L....,,__r‘ ABSTRACT A CASE STUDY OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A PRESCHOOL PROGRAM IN AN URBAN SETTING BY Donald M. Graham The problem of this study was how to develop and implement a preschool program in an urban elementary community school. Thus, this was a descriptive case study of the design, development, and implementation of the preschool program at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac, Michigan. The main purposes of this study were: (1) To serve as a yardstick which may be used to compare and contrast this program with other preschool programs; (2) To provide a model which may be of value to other schools or school systems attempting to initiate a similar program. A survey of the literature pertinent to this study was explored as background material from which one could develop a rationale for developing and imple— menting a preschool program. The review of literature Donald M. Graham centered around (1) the history of early childhood edu— cation; (2) the case for preschool programs; (3) parental and home involvement in preschool programs; and (4) a review of several existing preschool programs. The Human Resources Center is a multi—use edu— cational park located in the inner city of Pontiac. The school was built to provide programs and services to enhance the economic ability, health, housing, education, community participation, and family functioning of the people of downtown Pontiac. In keeping with this phil— osophy, the Early Childhood Education Program was developed and implemented. The Early Childhood Edu— cation Program accepts the premise of public responsi— bility for preschool education and recognizes the follow— ing as appropriate features of early childhood education: (1) Providing activities and information designed to help strengthen each family‘s capacity to rear young children through parent education, consul— tation, and support services and materials. (2 v Creating a parent—school partnership to develop a continuum of learning experiences during the preschool and primary grades. The following major project goals have been established for the Early Childhood Education Project: Donald M. Graham (1 v To develop and improve the cognitive skills, motor skills, and social skills of preschool children; (2) To improve understanding and career awareness for preschool children; (3) To develop and improve the skills in teaching of paraprofessionals with children; (4) To improve each mother's ability to assist her child in the areas of physical, educational, and social development; (5 V To modify, develop, and refine program planning and implementation procedures. The professional staff for the Early Childhood Education Program includes the program supervisor, a perceptual motor specialist, and an instructional leader who also serves half—time as the coordinator of evalu— ation. Ten teacher assistants (paraprofessionals) serve as home visitors. The Early Childhood teacher assistants visit in the home with parents and three— and four—year— old children on a bivweekly basis. These Home Visitors provide parents with Parent—Child Activity Kits containing daily home training activities. The kits are designed to enable the parents to conduct daily follow—up learning activities in the home with their children. Each activity kit is developed to focus on a central theme Donald M. Graham and provides experiences with coloring, stories, cutting and pasting, poems, songs, and movement activities, and making simple learning games. Opportunities are provided for parents to par- ticipate at the HRC in child study sessions. These sessions focus on providing information and exchanging ideas relative to child growth and development and topics reflecting the special needs and interests of parents of three- and four—year-old children. Field trips are also arranged for parents to enable them to become more informed about resources in the community that have educational value for both themselves and their children. Hopefully, the experience of the tours will help parents better understand the community in which they live as well as places where families can visit during their leisure hours. A physical education specialist conducts a demon— stration class for children three days a week in the HRC Perceptual Motor Laboratory. A variety of play activi— ties are conducted to help promote the development of movement skills, social skills, and perceptual-motor skills. Parents accompany their children to school and participate in child study sessions, volunteer activities, or informal discussion groups while their children are in the demonstration class. Parents participating in the Early Childhood Education Program become part of the Donald M. Graham Parent Advisory Committee. They advise on all aspects of the program and offer valuable suggestions related to the content of child study sessions, activity kits, experience tours, and other phases of the program. During the course of this initial year of the Early Childhood Education Program, a process of evalu— ations took place which resulted in several adjustments as well as giving future directions to the program. At its peak, the ECEP actively involved ninety children from eighty—five families. é A CASE STUDY OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A PRESCHOOL PROGRAM IN AN URBAN SETTING BY Donald M: Graham A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Administration and Higher Education 1973 £5 ,_ 55‘ {9"} ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of a doctoral study involves many people who help in various ways. Sincere appreciation is expressed to those who have contributed to this study by their encouragement, support, advice, and specialized knowledge. Special gratitude is extended to each of the members of my guidance committee: to Dr. Richard L. Featherstone, chairman, for his helpfulness, confidence, and leadership; to Dr. Clyde M. Campbell for making the Mott Internship a valuable learning experience; to Dr. Howard Hickey for his friendship, advice, and support; to Dr. James B. McKee for his assistance and cooperation. This writer is extremely grateful to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for providing the financial support to enable me to experience community education first-hand and to complete my degree as a Michigan State University Mott Doctoral Intern during 1972—1973. And to my fellow interns who helped make this year a profitable learning experience: Don Butler, Jerry DeFries, John Fallon, Doug Godwin, Bobby Mitchell, ii Dave Morton, Alma Seniors, John Thiel, Jerry Tirozzi, and Don Tobias, I am also very grateful. Appreciation is extended to the staff of the Early Childhood Education Program at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac, Michigan, especially Dr. Lee Haslinger, Director, and Mrs. Jo Davidson for their cooperation, expertise, and assistance in the collection of data for this study and for allowing this writer to intern under their direction for five months. A special note of thanks is due here to two educators without whose direction, assistance, and encouragement I would not be where I am today. To Mr. Bob Anastasi, who directed me into the field of education, assisted me all during my career as an edu— cator, and whose friendship I will always treasure; and to Dr. Joseph J. Tarallo, who provided me with the inspiration and encouragement to pursue a doctoral degree and who taught me more about education and administration than anyone; I can only sayv—Thanks. To my parents, Doris and Mason Graham, I owe more than can ever be said for their encouragement and support over the years. I hope that this dissertation and degree in some small way expresses my appreciation and repre— sents some fulfillment for the educational opportunities which were not open to them. Finally, to my wife, Pat, and our children, Cindy, Amy, Dave, and Mike, who provided the inspiration for this study, and whose love, patience, understanding, faith, sacrifice, and encouragement made it possible to complete this work I owe my most sincere gratitude. Especially to my wife, Pat, for her many hours of work, and without whose patient, loving encouragement and unfailing support this degree would never have become a reality, I owe my greatest thanks. Now we are truly Dr. and Mrs. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . Introductory Statement. . Statement of the Problem . Significance of the Problem Methodology . . . Definition of Terms. . . Assumptions . Delimitations of the Study Summary . . . . II. SELECTED REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE History of Early Childhood Education The Case for Preschool Programs Parental and Home Involvement in Preschool Programs . Review of Several Existing Preschool Programs . . . . c a c o 9 Project Follow—Through——The Florida Parent Education Program . . . The Ypsilanti, Michigan Home Teaching Project. . Dayton Ohio Public Schools Early Childhood Education Program (ECE) . . . . San Francisco California Unified School District Prekindergar- ten Program . . . Oak Street Community School, Flint, Michigan . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . Page 22 43 76 93 93 97 97 101 104 107 Chapter III. THE PHILOSOPHY, BACKGROUND, AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESCHOOL PROGRAM . . . . ‘ Background—-The Human Resources Center Objectives of the HRC as Established By the Pontiac Board of Education Development of the Preschool Program Evaluation Processes of the Program Dissemination of Information . . Responsibilities of the Staff . . Summary . . . . . . . . . IV. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRESCHOOL V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . Introduction . . . . . . . Description of the Program . . . Initiation of the Program. . . . Evaluation of the Program. . . Future Directions of the Program . Summary . . . . . . . . . Introduction . . . . . . Summary. . . . . . . . . . Conclusions . . . . . . . Recommendations . . . . . . . Concluding Statement . . . . . SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . APPENDICES Appendix A. Parent—Child Activity Kits . . . B. HRC—ECEP Administrative Organization 1972—73 o u o o o o o o I C. ECEP Evaluation Time Task Chart. . . vi 0 AND RECOMMENDATIONS Page 109 109 114 123 135 138 139 142 144 144 146 151 157 168 172 176 176 178 182 185 189 190 198 219 220 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2-1. Percentage of Children Three to Five Enrolled in Preschool Programs by Regions, October, 1967 . . . . . . . 41 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION These children will be making the trip through life just one time, as all the rest of us are. If they do not succeed in becoming what they are capable of this time, there will be no second chance to do so. --Delmo Della-Dora Introductory Statement Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language defines education as "the act or process of rearing or bringing up . . . and "the process of providing with knowledge, skill, competence or unusually desirable qualities of behavior and char~ acter. . . . " However, both popular and professional discussions of education usually assume a more restricted meaning, i.e., the activities of professional educators teaching the traditional academic subjects to school—age children in the schools, which is a description of formal or academic education. An analysis of the more compre- hensive definition of education suggests that academic education is only one component of the total education system. Another major component of the total educational process may be early childhood or preschool education. According to Gordon the United States is currently wit— nessing a revolution in early childhood education. Gordon goes on to say: Within the past decade, profound changes have affected our programs for the young——changes in the number of children enrolled and the types of homes from which they come; shifts in the assumptions about young children's learning capabilities and about the most effective ways of teaching them; increased recognition of the crucial nature of the early years and of the critical necessity for the comprehensive efforts to meet the needs of infants, young children, and their families. This explosion of interest and activity has taken place despite the fact that the nation is largely unprepared to meet the challenges it presents. This country lacks a consistent rationale for programmatic and curriculum development, as well as trained manpower to staff programs, appropriate physical plants for early edu— cation programs, and an effective overall research base to guide the efforts. The educational endeavors with young children, especially prior to 1965, were limited almost entirely to children from the more affluent segments of the population, and, even now, the experience with many groups, such as the young children of blue—collar workers, is extremely restricted. The recent concentration of investigation and study by psychologists, educators, pediatricians, psy— chiatrists, anthropologists, nutritionists, and others seems to point clearly in one direction. The child's earliest years seem to be the time of most rapid physical and mental growth. Various authors indicate that at no lIra J. Gordon, Early Childhood Education: The Seventy-First Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education (ChTCago: University of ChiCago Press, 1972Y, p. 291. other period in his life is the child so susceptible and responsive to positive environmental influences which enhance and expand his development. To paraphrase Akers, environmental influences, if of a sterile or destructive nature, may have negative effects on his intelligence, his motivation and ability to learn, his concept of him— self, his relationships with others, and on his later health. The child is learning every moment of his life, sometimes actively and aggressively moving out, at other times assuming a more passive role. He is discovering who and what he is. He is discovering how other people feel about him and what they expect of him, as well as how he feels about them. He is continuously searching to understand the world of people and things which surround him and to determine what his own role is in this highly complex situation. There is little doubt, according to Akers, that the optimal fulfillment of the potentials that are uniquely his and his emergence into greatest effectiveness as a socially component adult are critically affected by what happens to him in infancy and childhood.2 At last society seems to be realizing that young children‘s experiences in their first years are of 2Milton E. Akers, "Prologue: The Why of Early Childhood Education," in Early ChildhoodkEducation: The Seventy—First Yearbook of the NationaISocietyfifor the Sffidy of Edfication (Chicago: University of Chicago—PEess, 1972).! p0 3. crucial creative importance for their total future lives. Educators seem to be ready to accept the thesis that intelligence is not fixed once and for all at birth, but can be shaped by experience. The problem of which is more important, heredity or environment, has been resolved by the recognition that both are significant in continual interaction with each other. The evidence seems to point to the fact that heredity and environment interact. Edwards states that: Hereditary possibilities are shaped by the influences that only human culture can provide; they are poten— tialities that must be developed while the young neurological organism is still rapidly growing, malleable, open to stimulus. If the critical periods in learning hypothesis applies to human beings, then the right experience must come at the right time or the potential must remain forever unrealizednl3 Bloom implies that the environment is important when he says that "the early environment, during the first five to seven years of life, is the significant 4 Studies have shown one for intellectual development." that the young child‘s experience is of indelible importance, not only for his emotional life, but also in the formation of that aspect of man which is perhaps most crucially his own, his wisdom. Some educators are at a point where they can see why education for the young 3Esther P. Edwards, "Kindergartens are Too Late," Saturday Review, June 15, 1968, p. 69. 4Ibid., p. 70. child can matter enormously. However, it does not matter as much as the family. According to many authorities, the family is basic. But the good family is good pre- cisely because it provides so much of the young child's education. Still, other appropriate experiences can add to what even the best family can do. For the child, born into a family which cannot give him what he needs in emotional security or intellectual stimulus, such experiences may act as a lifeline to essential develOp— ment. What early education is offered to what children becomes, therefore, of first importance. The current boom of interest in early childhood education has focused public attention on the values of sound preschool experiences for all children, privileged as well as underprivileged. There seems to be increasing acceptance and recognition of the fact that good pre- school experiences have value in preparing children for elementary school. Children from economically and cul- turally deprived environments often start school handi- capped in language and communication. They lack back— grounds of experience that stimulate eagerness or even readiness to learn. Many of them begin school marked for failure. Early childhood education seems to be gaining in prominence for many people. Professional educators are again beginning to appreciate Piaget, Montessori, John Dewey, and others who stress the importance and significance of a good preschool program. Today a nunfloer of professors, school administrators, and teachers are: striving to make intuitive leaps from the theory of these past leaders to functional educational programs in schools and communities. Campbell says that: . . . there has been a shift in focus in early child— Ihood education. Knowledgeable people now recognize 'that to prevent pupil failure new directions in learning, new techniques in teaching, new procedures are in demand not next year, not ten years hence, but soon. Stakes are high for both youngsters and society. Like an invisible hand, poverty or prosperity is hovering over a large number of people. Which road youngsters travel may depend in large part upon the abilities that they develop through education. The intelligent educator must make use of the golden period when a child can be worked with most easily and effectively without using pressure, without having to force on them a culture so foreign that it cannot be learned.5 Statement of the Problem The major problem of this study is how to develop axua implement a preschool program in an urban elementary cOmmunity school. Thus, this thesis is a case study of tflle design, development, and implementation of the pre— ScZhool program at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac, n’Iichigan. The main purposes of this study are: 5Clyde M. Campbell, "The Cottage Nursery," The Spmmunity School and Its Administration, July, 1969, p. 2. (1) To serve as a yardstick which may be used to compare and contrast this program with other preschool programs; (2) To provide a model which may be of value to other schools or school systems attempting to initiate a similar program; this study of development, implementation, and philosophy will be available to them. Significance of the Problem Educators are beginning to realize the urgency of providing the youth of today with the maximum amount of competence that is available to them. This urgency is based upon two important factors in today's society. First, the rapidly expanding role of technology, now taking the form of automation, decreases the demand and the opportunity for persons of limited competence and skills while it increases the demand and opportunity for those competent particularly in the use of the written language, in mathematics, in problem—solving, and in the willingness to accept responsibility. Second, the challenge of eliminating racial discrimination requires not only equality of employment opportunity and social recognition for persons of equal competence, but also an equalization of the opportunity to develop that intellectual capacity, those skills, and those motivational systems upon which competence is based. During most of the past century anyone who entertained the idea of increasing the natural competence of human beings was regarded as an unrealistic do—gooder. Indi— viduals, classes, and races were considered to be what they were because either God or their inheritance made them that way. Why concentrate on the very young? The answer, according to Bruner, is clear. He states: For one thing, Bloom's careful and well—known work strongly suggests that a very major proportion of the variance in adult intellectual achievement, measured by a wide variety of procedures, is already accounted for by the time the child reaches the usual school—starting age of five. For another, there are enough studies to indicate that certain possibly critical emotional, linguistic, and cognitive patterns associated with social backv ground are already present by age three. The staggering rate at which the preschool child acquires skills, expectancies, and notions about the world and about people; the degree to which culturally specialized attitudes shape the care of children during these years-—these are impressive matters that lend concreteness to the official mani— festos about the early years. To paraphrase Bloom, the increased ability to predict long—term consequences of environmental forces and developmental characteristics places new responsi— bilities on the home, the school, and the society. If these responsibilities are not adequately met, society will suffer in the long run. If these responsibilities 6Jerome S. Bruner, The Relevance of Education (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1971), p. 133. are neglected, the individual will suffer a life of con— tinual frustration and alienation. The responsibilities are great, the tasks ahead are difficult, and only through irnzreased understanding of the interrelationships between euuxrironments and individual development will society be ak>J.e to secure adequate solution.7 To a nation still smarting from the humiliation 01? having been surpassed in the field of scientific endeavor by the Russian's successful launching of Sputnik, armxfl , consequently, judging our own educational system to bee lacking, the conclusions of Bloom and his associates offered both an explanation and a degree of hope. Bloom Olfsguanized the evidence from longitudinal studies of human Ciee‘vrealopment based on measures of intelligence, of academic achievement, and of attitudes, interests, and values and found: It is possible to say, that in terms of intelligence Ineasured at age seventeen for both boys and girls, from conception to age four, the individual develops 50 percent of his mature intelligence, from ages four to eight he develops another 30 percent, and from ages eight to seventeen the remaining 20 percent. As for vocabulary development, reading comprehen— sion, and general school achievement, 33 percent of 'whatever academic skills children have attained at age eighteen develops between birth and age six, 42 percent between ages six and thirteen, and 25 percent between ages thirteen and eighteen. We believe it is likely that more careful investigation will reveal even 7Benjamin S. Bloom, Stability and Change in Human €396uracteristics (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1964) , p. 231. 10 larger values for the preschool period and the first three years of elementary school than is suggested by the studies we have been able to assemble to date.8 If; other words, according to Bloom, half of a child's .irytzellectual development takes place before the school ever sees him. Bloom goes on to say: Using these estimates, it would seem to us that the home environment is very significant not only because of the large amount of educational growth which has already taken place before the child enters first grade but also because of the influence of the home during the elementary period. Since our estimates suggest that about 17 percent of the growth takes place between the ages of four and six, we would hypothesize that nursery school and kindergarten could have far reaching consequences on the child's general learning pattern.9 A corollary of these basic conclusions is that the influence of the child's environment in stimulating maxi— InIJITl development of individual characteristics is greatest (3113Cting the period of their most rapid development, and this influence diminishes during the period of slower <3€3\7£elopment. "At this late stage in the development of a. czlnaracteristic," Bloom writes, "only the most powerful alléi (consistent environments are likely to produce marked 10 c31'1anges in the individual." The moral is clear. The contemporary school, insofar as it attempts to play a I“a-jorrole in the development of human intelligence, patherns of academic achievement, and the growth of \ 8 9 Ibid., pp. 231, 110. Ibid., p. 110. S loJameS Cass, "The Crucial Years Before Six," “jaiiEgrday Review, June 15, 1968, p. 59. 11 related characteristics, almost inevitably brings too little to the task, and that too late. As the years of schooling expected of children have increased from eight to twelve, and now progressively to fourteen, the tendency has been to View the very early ye ars as merely preparation for the more important learn-— ing that will take place in high school and after. But the perspective seems to be changing. Society is begin— ning to realize that it is during the earliest years of a child's life that his capacity for learning is largely developed, and that lost opportunities can never be fully retrieved. The obvious solution in the mind of many is that formal education must begin at a much earlier age. Many early childhood educators, already very much aware of the ability and capacity of young children to learn, were impressed by the implications of the Bloom study. His thesis confronted educators with new challenges and responsibilities. Quite clearly educators had not been according the young child the respect he deserved. If, as Bloom suggests, these years offer a unique opportunity for eXploiting the possible variation in the child‘s deVeloping intellectual capacity, then the nature of his e"‘«“~>ell:‘:'iences and environment during these years become critically important. The new view of the young child as a learner now expanded to include curiosity regarding the extent of his ability to learn and was strengthened 12 by an intriguing awareness of the lifelong impact of these learning experiences. Bruner's proposition that "the foundations for any subject may be taught at any age in some form" added even another dimension.11 The early years were clearly spotlighted as the new frontier in education. Educators saw in it not only unlimited potential for breaking the cycle of poverty in working with the disadvantaged child, but also possibilities for revolutionary changes in the total educational system. Edwards says that: Appropriate education must be made available to every child as soon as he can benefit from it. We know that as early as eighteen months disadvantaged chil- dren start trailing their middle—class age mates in tests of general intelligence and language develop— ment. Already the subtle undermining brought about by inadequate experience has begun. It is simply not true that all lower-class children are lacking in potential as compared with their middle—class peers. Some, no doubt, are. But for many, if not most, the deficit that so early becomes visible is more likely caused after conception by various environmental lacks. Such lacks can be reversed, and they ought to be. We are going to have to make educational stimulation available for the children whose families cannot provide it for them. We must build programs designed to amplify the child's world as the middle-class child‘s parents do, when he is still an infant in the crib. we must do this not to cut-off the lower-class child from his home and his family, but to assist his overburdened mother, to help make the family milieu better for the child. We must create kinds of stimulation that become a constant part of his life, involving him daily in meaningful interactions, just as the child from a more fortunate home interacts with his mother every day for years, until the time that the thousands of exchanges, each modifying and adding to his llBruner, op. cit., p. 12. 13 understanding, give him mastery of thought and speech. We know that this is the most deeply meaningful edu— cation for the one-, two-, or three—year—old. We must try and approach it with every child.12 The Educational Policies Commission of the National Education Association states further: All children should have the Opportunity to go to school at public expense beginning at the age of four. Research clearly shows that the first four or five years of a child's life are the period of most rapid growth in physical and mental charac— teristics and of greatest susceptibility to environ- mental influences. Consequently, it is in the early years that deprivations are most disastrous in their effects. They can be compensated for only with great difficulty in later years, and then probably not in full. Furthermore, it appears that it is harder to modify harmful learnings than to acquire new ones. Finally, experience indicates that exposure to a wide variety of activities and of social and mental interactions with children and adults greatly enhances a child's ability to learn. Early education is advisable for all children, not merely because of the need to offset any disadvantage in their background, but also because they are ready by the age of four for a planned fostering of their development and because educators know some of the ways to foster it through school programs.13 This paper is an attempt to present one approach to early childhood education which may serve as a model for a preschool program. It is also an attempt to syn- thesize and publicize such a program so that others may be aware of and perhaps utilize the program as it suits them. 12Edwards, op. cit., pp. 77—78. l3Educational Policies Commission of the National Education Association, "Universal Opportunity for Early Childhood Education," NEA Journal (November, 1966), 8. 14 Methodology The case study approach will be employed in this study. According to Good and Scates the essential pro— cedure of the case study method is to take account of all pertinent aspects of one thing or situation, employing as the unit for study an individual, an institution, a community, or any group considered as a unit. The case consists of data relating to some phase of the life history of the unit or relating to the entire life process.l4 Isaac suggests that case studies are par— ticularly useful as background information for planning major investigations in the social sciences. Because case studies are intensive, they bring to light the important variables, processes, and the interactions that deserve more extensive attention. Case studies pioneer new ground and often are the source of fruitful hypotheses for further study.15 Use of the case study as a method of presenting material which may be useful to those seeking knowledge in an area has been an accepted practice for some time. Olson has indicated that one of the unique contributions l4Carter V. Good and Douglas E. Scates, Methods of Research (New York: Appleton-Century—Crofts, Inc., 1954), p. 726. 15Stephen Isaac, Handbook in Research and Evalu- ation (San Diego: Robert R. Knapp, Publisher, 1972), p. 20. 15 of a case study to general knowledge can be the provision of case materials for instructional purposes and to improve the curriculum.16 Good and Scates also suggest that the case study method of research is complimentary to the experimental method and that first-hand contact with field situations with resulting case histories is a contribution to substantive literature in the field.17 Case study procedures have been extensively followed in such fields as education. Good further states that although case study was once limited pri— marily to problems of maladjustment, such as truancy or failure in school, or an underprivileged or malfunction— ing community, this approach more recently has been extended to investigation of normal or bright children, successful institutions and agencies, and well—organized communities or effectively functioning cultural groups.18 The design of this study will be: (1) To present a documentary of what has been done in the preschool program at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac; l6Willard C. Olson, "The Case Method," Review of Educational Research, December, 1939, p. 486. 17Good and Scates, 92, cit., p. 776. 18Carter V. Good, Introduction to Educational Research (2nd ed.; New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 19635, . 389. 16 (2) To identify the goals of the preschool program; (3) To focus on the development of a program, rather than on focusing on the results of program development; (4) To assess the current stage Of growth Of the pre— school program. Since direct Observation is essential in most instances of a case study, this writer will be a participant observer in the preschool program at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac, Michigan for an extended period of time. The case which is under study in this work was selected with the hope that it might provide meaningful material which would be useful for study by early child- hood educators. Definition of Terms Case Study.——An in-depth investigation of a given social unit resulting in a complete, well—organized picture of that unit.19 Preschool Education, Nursery Education, or Early Childhood Education.——For the purpose Of this research the terms preschool, nursery, or early childhood edu- cation will be used interchangeably to denote a program for children who have not reached the age for admission 19Isaac, QB! cit., p. 20. 17 to kindergarten or first grade, depending on which is first available in the regular school programs. Cultural Disadvantage.—-The possession of a culture, or membership in a cultural group, which is so restricting and so variant from the culture of the main- stream of the society as to handicap the person in par- ticipation. Community Education.-—For the purpose of this research, community education is defined as the process that concerns itself with everything that affects the well—being of all the citizens within a given community. This definition extends the role of community education from one of the traditional concept of teaching children to one of identifying the needs, problems, and wants of the community and then assisting in the development of facilities, programs, staff, and leadership toward the end of improving the entire community.20 Assumptions For the purpose of this study the following assumptions will be taken, either as self-evident or as being adequately supported in current educational phil- osophy. These assumptions will be supported in this and the chapters that are to follow: 20Howard W. Hickey and Curtis Van Voorhees, The Role of the School in Community Education (Midland, Mich.: Pendell Publishing Company, 19697, p. 3I. ._—-—-—u _.--.-.-.——— . —--—-— __I —...—. —_.. 18 Education is a result of the experiences which a child has in his social milieu; home, school, and community, not just the school alone. Education which a child receives in school will be largely dependent upon his ability to relate and the manner in which he relates to the culture of the school, neighborhood, and community. Education of the child is the joint responsibility of the school, the parent, and the community. Education of the child which is normally assumed by the home, but which the home is unable to or fails to provide, must be assumed by the school and the community. Educational institutions are responsible to society to provide experiences for the child which are necessary to the educative process and which are lacking in the culture of the child. A meaningful preschool program for a culturally disadvantaged child, when coupled with an ele— mentary and secondary program designed to meet his needs, can provide amelioration of academic disadvantages and greatly improve his chances of success in school and life. There is no one method of teaching young children which is ideal for all of them. Like the rest 19 of us, they differ in temperament, in background, in needs, in readiness for this or that exper— ience. As children vary, so must educational approaches. Human beings are totalities: they have bodies, and they have minds; they exist in social contexts within which they act and feel. Small children are peOple, and their life in school needs to be a whole life in which physical, emotional, intel- 1ectual, and social aspects of the self are all given adequate nourishment. It is wrong to leave out any major segment, though emphasis can and should vary with the particular set of circum— stances. The community school, working under the community education concept, educates all and mobilizes all in the educational process, going all out, doing everything that can be done to provide each child the sum total of human knowledge, leaving no stone unturned in an effort to see that every human being has the Optimum chance for growth. The school becomes the vehicle for delivering ser— vices to people; people of all ages, backgrounds, and needs. L- 20 Delimitations of the Study The case study approach carries obvious research limitations. It must be viewed as a single case applicable to the local setting under study and it must be recognized that there will probably be certain unique features which should not be generalized universally. This study involves the Human Resources Center in Pontiac, Michigan, in an in—depth study of the development and implementation of their preschool program. Any applicability of this study to other schools or school systems should be assessed carefully by those wishing to use the program. Summary In this chapter, the background for the study has been described, and the statement and significance of the problem discussed in some detail. The method to be used was explained, a definition of terms, and the basic assumptions were stated. The delimitations of the study and a summary con- cluded this chapter. Chapter II contains a selected review of related and pertinent literature. Chapter III gives the philosophy, background, and development of the preschool program. 21 Chapter IV contains the implementation and results of the preschool program. Chapter V contains a summary, conclusions, and recommendations. w..— CHAPTER II SELECTED REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The review of the literature for this study encompasses the following areas: (1) A brief history of early childhood education; (2) The case for preschool programs; (3) Parental and home involvement in preschool programs; (4) Review of several existing preschool programs. History of Early Childhood Education Early childhood education is not a new develop- nuerrt; in the language of our times it is hardly an inno— vation. For centuries religious leaders, philosophers, and educators have spoken and written on the importance Of' tihe early childhood years. Froebel established his "Garden of Children" in 1837. In 1855, the first kinder-— gar-ten in America was established. The movement‘s history has Strong roots. We are not, in the 1970's, at a begin— ning , we are building on the past. 22 _ 23 The importance of educating the young child was recognized as early as the fifteenth century when Martin Luther (1483-1546) protested against the practice of limiting education to children of the privileged class. Luther insisted that all children had a right to learn, and he is recognized as the first among modern educational to recommend compulsory education. His thesis reformers entitled, "Christians Are to Be Taught" represents the beginning of the idea of universal education. Luther's educational theories were reinforced a century later by John Amos Comenius (1592—1670) who recognized the importance of educating the very young. Comenius, however, envisioned a universal educational system that would include everyone. His educational ladder began with the "Mother School" and, in an articu- lated fashion, proceeded through the "Vernacular School," the "Latin School," and finally the "University." Because the concern here is primarily with the education of the YOung child, it is interesting to note that Comenius iIlSiiSted that play activities be included in the curricu— lum. He was probably the first, according to Auleta, to advocate play as a medium for developing the child‘s welib-being. Comenius also recognized the importance of humor as a means of lightening the grim realities \ v—v Ed 1’Michael S. Auleta, Foundations of Early Childhood \B‘fition: Readings (New York: Random House, 1969), p. I6. i‘ 24 of a child‘s life. He correctly observed that "children detest pedantry and severity, hence humor and lightness should be planted in every lesson." Comenius also believed that "the acquisition of knowledge cannot be forced, nevertheless a skillful master can make a child eager to savor knowledge." He reiterated the importance of learning by doing. "Artisans learn to forge by forging, to carve by carving, to paint by painting—~and so let it be with learning, let children learn to write by writing, to sing by singing and to reason by reasoning." Comenius was more than an educational theorist. He taught children in several European countries, and, even more important he wrote many textbooks that deeply influenced education for centuries.2 Each age produces leaders who impart an indelible mark on mankind. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712—1778) must be counted among the list. Rousseau reiterates the immutable demands of nature in bringing up the child. According to Rousseau, the child is a product of nature and should be permitted to grow and develop without the degenerate influences of civilization. Rousseau cautioned that in bringing up the very young child, habits should be avoided, particularly adult—imposed habits. On the other hand, he felt that play, which comes naturally to the young, should be encouraged. During the early years, 2Ibid., p. 17. 25 Rousseau contends, education should emphasize the development of the body. Rousseau also stated that "we are always looking for the man in the child, without thinking what he is before he becomes a man."3 The unfortunate lot of the disadvantaged child has occupied the attention of reformers for centuries. Luther, Comenius, and Rousseau first prOposed the revolutionary idea of educating all children no matter what their position in society. The work of these edu— cational innovators was continued by Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746—1827). A visionary and innovator who had the courage to experiment, Pestalozzi agreed with Rousseau that education was a living process, "the natural, progressive, and harmonious development of all the child's powers and faculties." He reinforced Comenius' principle that all children deserve to be educated. Moreover, he established schools to promote his theory and to train teachers who would continue to carry on his pedagogy in many parts of the world, including the United States.4 Together with his predecessors, Pestalozzi firmly rejected the prevailing practice of learning 3Adolphe E. Meyer, An Educational History of the Western WOrld (New York: McGraw—Hill Bodk Company, 1965), p. 335. 4Ibid., p. 351. 26 through memorization. He realized the importance of sense perception and made observation an indispensable step in the learning process. He wisely recognized that a child should be motivated by a natural interest in his surroundings. Disavowing the use of the switch as a motivating device, Pestalozzi said, "Let the child be a human being and let the teacher be his trusted friend." These principles, which we take for granted today, were regarded as a novelty during Pestalozzi's time.5 Robert Owen (1771—1858), a successful British industrialist, appeared on the scene as the educational dreamer who introduced the first infant school in England. He envisioned a school for the very young as a means of improving their sorry lot and believed that education could condition the infant in such a way that he would emerge from his "depraved" position. In 1816 Owen established an infant school for three-year—olds. The curriculum reflected his belief in the essential good— ness of children and provided for a variety of wholesome activities, many of which were borrowed from Pestalozzi. Owen spent some time studying under Pestalozzi and was firmly convinced that education, to be effective, had to begin when the child was very young.6 5Harry C. Good and James D. Teller, A History of Western Education (3rd ed.; London: The MacMillan Company, 1969), p. 256. 6Auleta, 22° cit., p. 19. 27 In 1837, Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel (1782-1852), also a disciple of Pestalozzi, established a school for the young with a long and unwieldy name that was later amended to Kindergarten. He designed a curriculum for this first kindergarten that was soundly based on the normal developmental patterns of child growth. Because he was a keen observer of child behavior, Froebel was the first to recognize the true significance of the child's world. Froebel conceived the idea of educating the whole child and suggested that education is more than preparation for life; education is life itself. Play and related activities were viewed by him as appropriate media for the child's development.7 The kindergarten established the validity of affection and physical activity in teaching. It centered attention on the way children grew. Teachers were warned to avoid the over— use of books. Finally, the kindergarten offered the first expression of the need for peer group socialization. The Froebelian kindergarten significantly influenced the development of early childhood education. Although it offered little that was entirely new, it institutionalized earlier themes and produced a growing band of evangelical 7Good and Teller, gp. cit., pp. 285, 288—89. —-—r m...“- 28 enthusiasts who pressed for a more extended commitment to educating the young.8 Froebel‘s ideas have directly influenced early childhood education all over the world. In the United States, Mrs. Carl Schurg, a former student of Froebel‘s established in 1855 what may have been the first kinder- garten in the United States. It was a modest affair, conducted for German—speaking children in Watertown, Wisconsin. Five years later, in 1860, the first English— speaking kindergarten, owned and managed by Elizabeth Peabody, made its appearance in Boston. Finally in 1873, Froebel‘s creation was welcomed to the public service when William T. Harris, superintendent of the St. Louis public school system, opened the first tax-supported kindergarten in America.9 Froebel's ideas also effectively established early childhood schooling as an aim of educational reform. The Froebelian's probably would not have attracted as much attention had their ideas not become tied to the pro— gressive reform movement. Between 1880 and 1915, Americans engaged in an extreme and extensive attack on 8Marvin Lazerson, "The Historical Antecedents of Early Childhood Education," Early Childhood Education, Seventy-First Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part II (Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1972), pp. 36, 38. 9Meyer, gp. cit., p. 372. 29 the problems caused by industrialism and urbanization. Much of the reform agitation centered on the urban slum, and one of the problems was that of how to meet the needs of childhood in an environment considered deleterious to healthy growth. The kindergarten was one solution. Settlement houses, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, charitable organizations, and philanthropists began sponsoring kindergarten programs in every major American city in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. The philanthropic kindergarten's goals were a mixture of child socialization to middle—class norms and broader social reform. The kindergarten also reached out to transform family life in the slums through the edu— cation of parents. The values the child learned would, the social reformers felt, help him succeed in the ele— mentary school grades.10 By the first decade Of the twentieth century, the charitable kindergartens were giving way to public— sponsored arrangements. As early as 1885, the National Education Association recommended that kindergartens be incorporated into the public schools. By 1901-02 an estimated 260,000 children were enrolled in kinder— gartens, with about three—fifths in public classes. A decade later 365,000 were enrolled, with public classes accounting for almost 85 per cent. The early childhood loLazerson, gp. cit., pp. 38—40. 30 movement was also becoming professionalized. In 1884 the National Education Association established its Kinder- garten Department. By 1915 three nationwide organizations concerned with educating the young had come into exis— tence.11 Any discussion of educators in the United States must ultimately focus upon our foremost reformer, John Dewey (1859—1952), who is universally regarded as the outstanding educational theorist of modern times. Although his philosophy is broad in scope, it nonethe— less has particular relevance for the early childhood teacher. In 1896 Dewey and his wife established a school for children between the ages of four and fourteen. It was named the Laboratory School for the University of Chicago and later became the experimental precedent that deeply influenced the American educational system for several decades. Thus the progressive education movement came into being amid the sound and fury of approval and disapproval. Dewey's philosophy influenced, in one way or another, the early education Of practically every child who attended public schools. In his philosophical system Dewey knit together many of the ideas originally conceived by Comenius, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, and Froebel. His pragmatism was naturally geared to the American society in which it functioned. Like so many reformers llIbid., pp. 40—41. 31 who preceded him, Dewey's movement was carried to extremes. Today we see a more moderate application of Dewey's inno— vations.12 John Dewey's most important contribution to the early childhood education movement, however, lay in his stress on problem—solving and socialization. While Dewey's complex ideas made a clear application to the classroom difficult, early childhood educators used them as a basis for enlarging their attack on highly structured and formal teaching methods. Although Dewey's philosophy had begun to affect early childhood education by World war I, its proponents were also challenged by a European import—~the Montessori method.13 The lot of the reformer is never easy and becomes particularly difficult when the reformer is a woman. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) defied the mores of her day by entering the University of Rome Medical College and becoming the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. During her visits to the university psychiatric clinic, she learned that retarded children were indiscriminately mixed with the mentally insane. She correctly surmised that their problems were of an educational nature. This conclusion prompted her to 12Auleta, gp. cit., p. 21. l3Lazerson, 92° cit., p. 43. 32 undertake a study of children with learning difficulties, and as a result she was appointed to direct the State Orthophrenic School, an institution that provided for the care of the mentally retarded and the dropouts who failed to succeed in the conventional Roman elementary schools. During this early experience, Dr. Montessori created the first of her educational materials and unique teaching methods. Her work was so successful that her pupils were able to compete with normal children in the annual public examinations. She later Opened a school for preschool children that she called Casa dei Bambini, or Children's House. Despite their young ages and lack of training, Montessori taught the children to read and write with some success. Although Maria Montessori aroused genuine interest in other countries, her methods were not adopted at first in the United States. However, the recent national concern for the education of the disadvantaged child has caused educators to take another look at her methods and materials. There has been a notable revival of interest in Montessori techniques and an accompanying increase in the number of Montessori schools.14 The decade of the twenties was marked by the adoption of habit-forming goals. Teachers became 14Maya Pines, Revolution in Learning (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1966), pp. 108—09. 33 responsible for learning environments which assured that free play would lead to prOper behavior. Dewey's notion of social interaction and learning based on experience was widely accepted. A science of child development emerged, reinforcing the rapidly growing measurement and testing movement of the times. The findings of child development, the idea that there existed a "normal and desirable" child growth, inten— sified clinical research on the young. According to Lazerson, child development research made clear the importance of early years for later growth and suggested the desirability of even earlier formal schooling. Lazerson goes on to say: Although these developments led to some emphasis on day care, the major emphasis in early childhood education after WOrld War I was the nursery school movement. Nursery schools grew from a handful in 1925 to some 300 in 1929. In some cities, settle— ment houses ran classes for slum children, often cooperating with local teachers colleges. Of increasing importance were the cooperative nursery schools for middle class children initially appear- ing around university campuses.15 Preschooling expansion intensified the problem of integrating early childhood education and the ele- mentary school. Almost from their inception, kinder— gartens were challenged for isolating themselves from the child‘s later school needs. Primary school teachers complained that kindergarten children were unruly and 15Lazerson, BE; cit., p. 48. 34 unable to concentrate on the required work. .Similar con— flicts appeared between the nursery schools and kinder- gartens. By the end of the 1920's a common curriculum for nursery-kindergarten—first—grade had evolved, with an increasing number of teacher-training institutions offering a common preschool-primary school course of study. In 1930, the International Kindergarten Union and the National Council of Primary Education merged into The Association for Childhood Education. The economic depression of the 1930's threw early childhood education into a turmoil. Budgetary cutbacks which affected every educational level hit kindergartens the hardest. Many cities eliminated kindergarten completely. Yet, even as local school systems cut their kindergarten programs, the federal government dramatically entered early childhood education. In October, 1933, Harry L. Hopkins, director of the Federal Emergency Relief Agency, announced that nursery schools would be established with federal money to provide work for unemployed teachers and educational and health programs for children of the unemployed. Within a year, 3,000 schools were operating, enrolling 65,000 children, and employing 7,500 teachers and other workers.16 WOrld war II transformed early childhood education into an adjunct of the defense effort. The depression 16Ibid., p. 51. 35 nursery school became day—care centers administered by the Federal WOrks Agency, designed to release mothers for defense employment. Despite more than a decade's funding of early childhood education for emergency pur— poses, however, sponsorship did not last. In 1946, federal funding was terminated. At the end of the 1940's most childhood educators were simultaneously arguing the necessity for an expanded and continuing commitment to preschooling and decrying the failure to capitalize on the gains made during the depression and the war.17 In the forties and fifties, concerns for the young child were essentially directed toward his psy- chosocial development--a healthy, well-adjusted per- sonality according to Akers.l8 To paraphrase Akers, heavily influenced by Freud and Erikson, early childhood educators and, perhaps to a slightly lesser degree, researchers were preoccupied with such aspects of development as trust, autonomy, and the acquisition of effective social skills. Attention to intellectual aspects of development were almost consciously avoided. l7Ibid. 18Milton E. Akers, "Prologue: The Why of Early Childhood Education," Early Childhood Education, Seventy— First Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part II (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972), p. 3. 36 Most early childhood educators were reluctant to organize programs for specific intellectual learnings, but, rather, supported the notion that young children should be left to learn only those things for which they have a par- ticular bent as shown by their natural interest. Many nursery schools reflecting this point of view may have had elaborately inviting environments, but teachers were admonished to allow the child to set his own pace and make his own choices in activities and seldom interfere. At the same time, constrained by a tenacious clinging to the myth that no child could or should learn to read before the age of six, the public schools were almost totally unconcerned with the younger child. Perceiving learning and reading as synonomous, public school per— sonnel were content to leave the child to his own devices until he was ready for their formal learning program, i.e., reading. The kindergarten programs which were established were justified and generally characterized as programs of reading readiness.19 The late fifties saw the beginnings of ferment in many quarters in a departure from the exclusive emphasis on the child's affective and social development. From a vast range of persons showing emerging concerns for another aSpect of development, the cognitive, it is perhaps unwise to attempt to pinpoint any particular lgIbid., pp. 3—4. 37 person or group. One early and clear statement was articulated by Martin, who pointed out that in the work with young children educators had been overlooking "the one characteristic that once was thought to be unique in man, that is, the fact that he has a mind and he has the capacity for thought."20 The "rediscovery" of the child's mind was indeed an apt term as one recalls that much of the study and work in earlier decades dealt directly with the intellectual development of the young child, i.e., that of Montessori, Isaacs, Gesell, and many others. As long ago as 1950, the White House Conference approved of early education in the form of kindergarten and nursery schools as a "desirable supplement to home life," a recommendation repeated and expanded by the conference of 1970. But parents and school districts were relatively slow to translate these recommendations into schools. By 1960 the Educational Policies Come mission of the National Education Association recomv mended that all children aged four or over have the opportunity to go to school at public expense. Yet as Hess and Croft point out: The year 1965 must stand as a landmark year in early childhood education. The administration's investment in the war on poverty created Head 20W. E. Martin, "Rediscovering the Mind of the Child: A Significant Trend in Research in Child Develop- ment," Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, VI (1960), 71. 38 Start. Head Start was a singular commitment to young children at the federal level. While there had been other federally sponsored programs for day care, they had not been directed toward serving the needs of young children per se, but were instituted to provide child care for women employed in critical war and defense industries during the 40's. Support for preprimary education had come mainly from middle class and upper class parents concerned with developing social and group exper- iences for their children. Other private programs existed providing day care for children of working mothers. A number of universities had nursery school facilities associated with minor training programs. These facilities also served the research interests of professionals concerned with child development during the early years. It is fair to say that no national commitment nor universal interest in the field was evident prior to 1965.21 The period following 1965 was one of rapid growth and change for the field of early education, with a dramatic increase in career opportunities as a result of the expansion of both research and innovative programs. The number of nursery schools had grown remarkably, and many states now required public kindergartens. Early learning and education acquired a degree of attraction visibility, and salience for educators and behavioral scientists that they had not known before. This rise in interest was undoubtedly a consequence of the commit- ment at the national level to early education and especially to early education as a route to greater opportunity for children from poor and minority 21Robert D. Hess and Doreen J. Croft, Teachers of Young Children (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1972), p. 21. 39 families. Large increases in federal funds for both experimental and operational purposes also intensified interest. Growth in the field was not uniform in all directions, however, but it followed some of the national concerns and the guidelines upon which Head Start and similar programs were built. Much greater emphasis was given to programs for disadvantaged children, defined as coming from low-income homes and from minority families. For a number of reasons there was also greater allocation of funds to urban areas.22 As of October, 1967, the data by age level was as follows: 1 of every 23 three—year-olds was in a preschool program. 1 of every 4.7 four-year—olds was in a preschool program. 2 of ever 3 five-yearvolds were in a preschool program.2 During the years l964~l967, the total number of children between the ages of three and five remained approximately the same—~about twelve million according to Hess and Croft. They go on to say that: . . . the sharp increase in enrollment of pre- schoolers from families of lower income, and the disproportionate percentages of nonwhites enrolled in programs for three— and four—year-olds clearly suggests financial support from governmental sources. For the most part, these differences are a result of Head Start and other programs 22Lazerson, 9p, cit., p. 52. 23Hess and Croft, gp. cit., p. 22. 40 funded by federal, state, and local agencies together with some private organizations. How— ever, families from high income levels enroll a much larger proportion of children than do families from any other group. Thus programs of early edu- cation do not yet reach enough of those most in need. If there were equal proportions of enroll— ment in low—income areas, 800,000 additional chil— dren would be in preschool programs of some kind at this time.24 Federally sponsored programs are concentrated in metropolitan areas where the density of population makes them more readily accessible to larger numbers of children. The percentages of white and nonwhite children enrolled in preschool programs in metropolitan central city areas, metropolitan areas outside the central city, and nonmetropolitan areas for October, 1967, are given in Table 2-1. Figures tell a clear story. Metropolitan areas have the highest percentage of enrollment; the fewest children are enrolled in pro— grams in rural areas. In both white and nonwhite cate— gories, more five-year«olds are in early childhood edu— cation programs because of state aid and local school district support for kindergarten programs. However, according to Hess and Croft, in 1967 only slightly more than half of the states provided aid at any preschool level, and for several years California was the only state that gave aid for day—care programs.25 24 25 Ibid. Ibid. 41 TABLE 2-l.-—Percentage of children three to five enrolled in preschool programs by regions, October, 1967 . Metropolitan _ y Central City p White 36.5 35.3 25.3 Nonwhite 37.0 38.3 16.9 Total 3-5 36.6 35.5 24.1 White 9.0 7.2 4.2 Nonwhite 8.8 13.6 6.4 Total 3's 9.0 7.7 4.5 White 24.7 25.1 11.9 Nonwhite 31.6 41.7 15.4 Total 4's 26.8 26.3 12.4 White 73.6 72.8 58.2 Nonwhite 68.7 62.0 29.1 Total 5's 72.1 72.0 54.2 42 Lazerson claims that three themes have dominated the history of early childhood education in the United States. To paraphrase Lazerson, the first has been the expectation that schooling for the young will lead to social reform. Early childhood education programs have sought this through direct intervention—~home visits by teachers, parents meetings, health services—vor more indirectly, through the transferal of what the child learns in school to the home. In both cases, family and neighborhood child—rearing practices are expected to change. In long—range terms, early schooling is designed to enhance social mobility by laying the foun— dation for later school success. Because early childhood education has thus emphasized its potential impact on the social structure, it has frequently focused much of its attention on the poor.26 Lazerson goes on to say that the second theme involves the uniqueness and importance of later develop- ment, and children in these years require special attention, affection, freedom, and guidance. The third theme focuses on the impact of early childhood education on the schools. Nineteenth— and twentiethvcentury pre— schooling movements criticized existing educational practices and proposed to reform them. Early childhood reforms have infiltrated higher educational levels, while 26Lazerson, gp. cit., p. 33. 43 the preschool classroom has adopted many of the assumptions of later schooling. Each of these three themeSv—the ethic of social reform, the uniqueness and importance of child— hood, and the reform of educational practices——has had a variety of manifestations. Occasionally one theme has dominated a particular debate; often the themes are hardly distinguishable. As a group, however, they have appeared consistently, and they have shaped the development of early childhood education in the United States.27 The Case for Preschool Programs A major contemporary development in education—— one which seems certain to influence public schools in the l970's-—is the widespread reawakening of interest in the young child. It is important at this juncture for educational leadership to be aware of some of the factors and events which have led to this new concern for early education. King and Kerber state that: Across the nation today we hear a steady crescendo of demands that formal educational experiences for children be extended downward into the second through the fourth years of life. Research in many areas points toward the conclusion that the most formative and irreversible learning occurs during the child's first four years. Apparently, early learning forms his mind and outlook in a way that can never be erased. Evidence also exists to indicate that the possibility of making up early deficiencies declines 27Ibid., p. 34. 44 with age. Early school entry, therefore, particu— larly for socioeconomically disadvantaged children, is increasingly regarded as essential for optimum human development. 8 This sudden recognition of the crucial nature of early childhood education by the American public is not due to a totally new awareness among American educators. As early as 1920, Dewey wrote: Because of his physical dependence and impotency, the contacts of the little child with nature are mediated by other persons. Mother and nurse, father and older children determine what exper— ience the child shall have; they constantly instruct him as to the meanings of what he does and undergoes. The conceptions that are socially current and impor— tant become the child's principles of interpretation and estimation long before he attains to personal and deliberate control of conduct. Things come to him clothed in language, not in physical nakedness, and this garb of communication makes him a Sharer in the beliefs of those about him.29 But although Dewey and others had already called attention to the formative nature Of the child's early experiences, interest in early childhood education is now heightened by recent breakthroughs in research findings on the intellectual growth and development of human beings. A study published by Skinner in 1960 concluded that more than 60 per cent of a person's I.Q. is developed prior 28Edith W. King and August Kerber, The Sociology of Early Childhood Education (New York: American Bock Company, 1968f, p. 5. 29John Dewey, Reconstruction in Philosophy (Boston: Beacon Press, 1920), p. 92. I 45 to age six.30 This new awareness of the fact that the child has a tremendous capacity for learning and does learn an amazing amount through his own initiative meshed neatly with Hunt's dramatic challenging of the concept of the fixed level of intelligence.31 Hunt's studies concerning the modifiability of development, including intelligence, presented exciting possibilities when related to Bloom's conclusions concerning significance of the first four years of life in the determination of the child's ultimate level of intellectual function— ing.32 Such findings have led to the develOpment of new theories on the education of the young child. While pediatricians, child psychologists, and other specialists on the growth and development of children once advocated a laissez—faire course of action, this system is now being replaced by its opposite, early intellectual stimu— lation. WUnderlich states that "we can increase the intellectual potential of a child by preventing the establishment of attitudes, habits, and customs which 3O"Preschool Industry Expands," Flint Journal (November 23, 1972), 149. 31J. McVicker Hunt, "How Children Develop Intel— lectually," Children, May—June, 1964, p. 87. 32Benjamin S. Bloom, Stability and Change in Human Characteristics (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1964), p. 231T' 46 inhibit free exploration and experiencev—from day one of life."33 Hess and Croft state: One of the significant contributions to come from these studies is that what is learned first stays longest and is the most difficult behavior to extinguish. Studies of language show that first learnings serve as a filter through which subsequent experiences are understood and interpreted. Because they are novel experiences, whatever we learn first is likely to make the greatest impression on us. Also once we learn something and establish patterns of behavior, it is more difficult to learn to do the same things in another way. There has been a marked increase in research on these issues in the past few years and our knowledge about the effects of early experience in human development is likely to expand rapidly.34 Robison and Spodek point out that: . . . our concept of readiness has also changed. We are now quite sure that children are ready and happy to absorb the most difficult learning of which they are capable at any time, and that they can do so without damaging results. Hence, exist— ing kindergarten practices are sometimes defended as a protection of the kindergarten child's right to be five. However, what a child is at five is determined to no small extent by his cultural environment.35 White goes on to say that: Substantial numbers of students of child development (including myself) are totally convinced that all 33Ray C. WUnderlich, M.D., Kids, Brains and Learning (St. Petersburg, Florida: Johnny Reads, Inc., 1970), p. 365. 34Robert D. Hess and Doreen J. Croft, Teachers of Young Children (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1972), p. 5. 35Helen R. Robison and Bernard Spodek, New Directions in the Kindergarten_(New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1965), p. 23. 47 children are being "educated" in areas of profound importance during the first six years of life. This education takes place mostly in the home. Too many children are failing this course of study, and failure at this stage apparently usually means failure throughout life. Until very recently, educators have paid relatively slight attention to questions of the curriculum, the staff and the methods of the "informal schooling" of the first six years of a child's life. But, whether educators examine the process or not, it goes on for all chil- dren, and many of us believe that our current pro- fessional neglect of the educational developments of the first six years is a serious disservice to most children, including many we consider perfectly normal.36 White goes even further when he states: "I believe that within a few decades most Western societies will assume public responsibility for guiding the educational develop- ment of all children from birth.37 38 the evidence that we have According to Hartup does not point to an optimal age for beginning attempts to motivate the child toward achievement, but suggests that the preschool years are crucial in the development of motivation. Butler39 suggests that the principle first advocated by Piaget is appropriate: "the more an infant 36Burton L. White, "When Should Schooling Begin?" Phi Delta Kappan, LIII (June, 1972), 611. 37Ibid. 38Willard W. Hartup, "Early Pressures in Child Development," Young Children, XX (May, 1965), 275. 39Annie L. Butler, Current Research in Early Childhood Education (washington, D.C.: American Associ— ation of Elementary Kindergarten-Nursery Educators, 1970), p. 100. 48 has seen and heard the more he wants to see and hear." Once an infant is ready to grasp things and formulate them, it is important for him to have access to things that he can grasp. Once it is clear what Objects are Of interest, it is important to provide an ample variety of them and an Opportunity for him to choose spontane— ously the ones that intrigue him at a given time. To further answer the question Of when moti- vational attempts should begin, Hartup goes on to say: Children must have the opportunity to associate feelings of satisfaction produced by simply changes in the environment with their own efforts. They need to exert themselves in an independent and effortful way and to observe satisfying environmental changes as a consequence of their actions. Children must also be informed as to what worthwhile effort is. The child must be helped to discriminate between a good try and a poor try, to differentiate between a good pro- duct and a poor product. Further, he must under— stand that the important people in his environment hope he will produce effective tries. Hilton41 claims that rapid urbanization of America and the changes in family life patterns offer partial explanations for the growing sense of urgency about early childhood education. Hilton goes on to state: Then, too, we are aware of the impoverishment of life for very large numbers of American children, 40Hartup, 92° cit., p. 277. 41Ernest Hilton, "Early Childhood Education: A Sense of Urgency," Instructor, LXXXII (August, September, 1972), 15. ‘- _.‘,-. __ >__ 49 and we feel guilty because we know it and are doing so little about it. There is a growing sense that we need to act to break what is called the cycle Of poverty, and education is perceived as the force to help do so. And today more than ever we recognize that if education is to be a powerful force it must reach children early in their lives. Hunt continues: It was commonly believed before World War II that early experience was important for emotional development and for development of personality characteristics, but unimportant for the develop- ment of intellect or intelligence. . . . It looks now as though early experience may be even more important for perceptual, cognitive, and intellective functions than it is for the emotional and temperamental functions.43 Caldwell claims that this is a very exhilarating time to be functioning in the field of early childhood education, for it is enjoying more status than ever in its history. The field is being looked to as offering the most hopeful solutions to many of our social problems associated with poverty and family disorganization and as representing a potential laboratory for exploring the limits of an environmental technology concerned with 44 helping everyone achieve at an optimal level. Deutsch sums up the need for early intervention in the following: 421bid. 43J. McVicker Hunt, "The Psychological Basis for Pre-School Enrichment," Merrill Palmer Quarterly, x (July, 1964), 222-23. 44Bettye M. Caldwell, "On Reformulating the Con- cept of Early Childhood Education—-Some Whys Needing Wherefores," in The Disadvantaged Child, ed. by Joe L. Frost and Glenn R. Hawkes (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1970), p. 158. 50 Essentially what is being said here . . . is that the child as a thinking organism and as a potential contributor to society, must be reached at as early an age as possible, particularly if he is marginal to our major cultural streams. He must be reached by educators with scientific knowledge, working in concert with behavioral scientists, and recognizing the underlying necessities that make it imperative for America to solve the problems that will be associated with mass youth unemployment if chil— dren are not integrated into the school context. Based on the fundamental goals and purposes of the preschool program it would be appropriate to consider the determined needs of particular groups; in this case, the so—called "culturally deprived," "edu— cationally deprived," "underprivileged," "disadvantaged," "lower class," or "lower socio—economic class." These terms are generally used as synonyms in describing the people affected. In less elegant terms they are poor people. They include Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Mexican— Americans, European immigrants, and white people from rural southern communities in large numbers. There are others as well. It should be noted that the goals and purposes are the same, basic programs are the same, and the needs of preschool children are the same in every group of the social structure. It should also be noted that the role of the parent is much the same. Before moving to implications for the schools, and prOposed action programs, it would be well to point 45Martin Deutsch, "Nursery Education: The Influence of Social Programming on Early Development," The Journal of Nursery Education (April, 1963), 197. 51 out some of the positive aspects of conditions among low- income families. There is much evidence that the lower— class parents generally place a high value on education for their children. This is pointed out by Cloward and Jones,46 and by Riessman.47 In a study made in 1955, Riessman cites responses from underprivileged groups which may seem surprising. He asked low socio-economic interviewees, "What do you miss most in life that you would like your children to have?" Over 50 per cent of the white respondents and 70 per cent of the Negro respondents said, "education." These were free responses, not selected from a list of choices.48 Reissman also reports a study made in 1962 in which some 55 per cent of children who had learned to read before coming to school came from lower socio-economic homes—~probably learning from the older brother or sister-—and other studies which show that education enjoys high status among many adults and youth of the 46Richard Cloward and James Jones, “Social Class: Educational Attitudes and Participation," in Education in Depressed Areas, ed. by A. Harry Passow (New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1963), pp. 142-63. 47Frank Riessman, The Culturally Deprived Child (New York: Harper and Row, 1962), pp. 12—13. 48Vardine MoOre, Pre-School Story Hour (New York: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1966), p. 30. 52 lower socio-economic group.49 These data appear to be in conflict with data that show apathy or relative indif- ference toward school. However, as Della—Dora points out, the apparent conflict in findings revolves around the meaning of the words, "education" and "school," or what students would like to learn in contrast to what the school teaches.50 Considering this report, it would seem logical to publicize the preschool program to gain the interest, confidence, and cooperation of parents with much the same methods used in any group or any community. How— ever, these parents are no more prepared than the chil— dren to recognize long—range goals and needs. Therefore, these parents cannot present to their children the model by which the child can interpret these aspirations. In addition, the parents have little faith that the school can or is interested in providing the needed education for their children. In the study by Cloward and Jones, one—third of the parents from lower—class homes felt that "the schools don't pay much attention to kids from poor families."51 49Reissman, QB: cit., p. 13. 50Delmo Della-Dora, "The Culturally Disadvantaged: Further Observations," Exceptional Children, January, 1963, p. 229. 51Cloward and Jones, 92' cit., p. 208. 53 It is not to be supposed that children from disadvantaged homes are lacking in potentials or in eagerness to learn, but simply lack Opportunities. McVicker Hunt points out: The intellectual inferiority apparent among so many children of low educational and socio-economic status, regardless of race, is already evident by the time they begin kindergarten or first grade at age five or six. Such children are apt to have various linguistic liabilities: limited vocabu- laries, poor articulation, and syntactical defi- ciencies that are revealed in the tendency to rely on unusually short sentences with faulty grammar. They also show perceptual deficiencies in the sense that they recognize fewer Objects and situations than do most middle class children. And perhaps more important, they usually have fewer interests than do the middle class children who are the pace setters in the schools. Moreover, the Objects recognized by and the interests of children typical of the lower class differ from those of children of the middle class. These deficiencies give such children the poor start which so commonly handicaps them ever after in scholastic competition.52 By a fortunate coincidence of timing, psycholo— gists and researchers in child development and theorists in the learning process were ready to offer solidly based approaches to correction of the situation. The work of McVicker Hunt, which gave a new appraisal of the effect of the environment on the developing organism, that of Jerome S. Bruner, which suggested new instruc- tional approaches, and that of Benjamin S. Bloom—-all pointed in one direction. If the vicious cycle of apathy, lack of aspiration, and waste of human potential 52J. McVicker Hunt, "How Children Develop Intel— lectually," Children, May-June, 1964, p. 87. 54 perpetuated by poverty was to be broken, then substantial energies and efforts must be directed toward the children of poverty at an early age. . Hechinger strengthens this argument when he concludes: All the evidence today indicates that children from a home background that not only is economically and socially at the lowest level but lacks family orien- tation toward formal learning are virtually excluded from success in school. They are preconditioned for failure. The school attuned as it is to the middle—class majority, seldom helps such children catch up; it often actually (though unwittingly) widens the gap between success and failure. Skill with words and comprehension of ideas that sprout from the thoughts behind words are probably the most essential prerequisites for formal learning. Yet these are exactly the skills most lacking in the slum child.53 Deutsch concludes that: The overwhelming findings of studies on the relation- ship between social class and learning, school per— formance, and the like is that children from back- grounds of social marginality enter the first grade already behind their middle—class counterparts in a number of skills highly related to scholastic achievement. They are simply less prepared to meet the demands of the school and the classroom situation.54 On matters of language skills and number skills, parents in poverty typically talk less often to their 53Fred M. Hechinger, "Passport to Equality,‘ in Pre-School Education Today (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966), p. 2. S4Martin Deutsch, "Facilitating Development in the Pre-School Child: .Social and Psychological Perspectives," in Pre-School Education Today, ed. by Fred M. Hechinger (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966), p. 80. 55 children than do parents in the middle class. They seldom ask questions that prompt their young children to note the various perceptual characteriStics of objects and to respond with language classifying these characteristics. When the children themselves ask questions they are all too often told to "shut up," as Hunt states: In short, what these children of poverty and lower- class background learn in the way of language, motivation, and standards of conduct before they are old enough to enter our traditional schools makes them incompetent and typically unfits them to profit from the circumstances provided by the cur- ricula of our traditional school. This occurs despite the abundant love these poor parents have for their children.55 Since the disadvantaged child's parents and intimate associates typically do not exhibit the behavior and motives that the child needs most to learn, and since they do not reinforce sufficiently such behavior and motives when they are exhibited by others in the environment, it follows that any appreciable, enduring improvement in the child's development can be effected only through an appreciable, enduring change in the behavior of person's intimately associated with the child on a day-to—day basis. This change can be effected in two ways: by trying to modify the actions of those who constitute the principal figures in the 55J. McVicker Hunt, The Challenge of Incompetence and Poverty (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1969), p. 159. 56 child's world, or by introducing into that environment persons who can serve as appropriate models and rein— forcers and who stand some chance of building an endur- ing relationship with the child. More and more educators are recognizing the importance of working with culturally disadvantaged children during the early formative years. Preschool enrichment programs may never be able to compensate fully for deficiencies in the experience and training by the home. Nevertheless, such programs can go a long way toward overcoming the handicap of a poor start, and without such enrichment, culturally disadvantaged chil- dren are certain to show irreparable gaps in their learn— ing and to fall hopelessly behind the rest of society. The gap is rapidly closing through the growth of private and public nursery schools, day-care centers, and other programs of preschool training, including Head Start. Beyer states that: The Head Start program aims at providing enriching preschool experiences for those "culturally dis— advantaged" children, experiences which they have missed in their home environments. It also aims to foster positive attitudes toward school and toward learning, through the kind of teaching that cap— tures the child's interest and holds it.56 Even with the phenomenal growth of interest and concern, there are areas where no facilities for the 56Evelyn Beyer, Teaching Young Children (New York: Pegasus Press, 1968), p. 199. 57 development of young children are available. The heritage of a democratic society is best transmitted by dynamic changing institutions and the schools are among the institutions which should be agents of needed change. By "needed" changes it is meant those which help improve the democratic quality of living. The nature of social class differences has radically limited equality of edu- cational Opportunity but this need not continue if schools carry out the role of change agents just described. The only factors lacking presently, accord— ing to Della-Dora, are adequate communication of the facts needed for the solution and sufficient desire to correct the situation.57 The solution, however, is not to damn previous educational goals and means across the board. New cir- cumstances and children with new needs do not prove that the established ways of going at the education of young children are valueless—-only that educators are now dealing with a wider range of children and must supple- ment the older ways with different aims, content, and techniques. Educators need a more varied repertoire. They need to know when to do what, and why. Dr. Julius Richmond, dean of New York Medical School at Syracuse, pointed out that "the failure to tackle poverty problems at this early age results in 57Della-Dora, 92. cit., p. 235. 58 consigning a vast number of children to failure in every phase of their future lives."58 For many middle—class children this failure may not be critical. For the dis- advantaged child, whose home often lacks intellectual stimulation, it may be disastrous. Fortunately, a number of new programs are exploring the possibilities of train- ing disadvantaged mothers to provide a more stimulating environment for their infant children in the home. Others are experimenting with special nursery schools for children from age two to four or five. Very likely many more efforts of this kind will be seen as awareness of the crucial nature of these early years becomes more general. The future of any society lies in its ability to train, that is, to socialize its young according to Hess. To paraphrase what Hess implies by this-—the stability of its institutions and political systems, the produc— tivity of its industrial resources, and the creativity of its intellectual talent reflect the degree of success of the adults in the society who have been given respon— sibility for shaping and developing its youth. If these teaching functions are not being adequately performed, through failure of the agents or as a result of new demands created by new values, or social, economic, or political change, pressures are likely to emerge for 58Moore, 22: cit., p. 25. 59 modification of the socialization procedures or for a change in the agents who are allocated responsibility for socialization. From this prospective, the contem— porary preoccupation with extra-familial preschool edu— cation in the United States reveals a profound mistrust of our present methods of socialization. In particular it seems to express a growing skepticism about the effec— tiveness of the family as a socializing agent. The extension downward in age of the beginning of formal schooling changes and emphasizes the role of the school. Vis-a-vis the child, the school becomes increas- ingly instrumental as the direct agent of socialization. Vis-a-vis the family, there is an enlarging of the arena of the child's life with which the school is concerned and a marked gain in the potential impact of the school as a source of values, skills, and orientations. The current growth of programs in early education and the large-scale involvement of the schools and federal govern— ment in them is not a transitory concern. It represents a fundamental shift in the relative roles and potential influence of the two major socializing institutions of the society--the family and the school. This concern over preschool education is an acknowledgment that edu- cation is socialization into modern society and as such is a critical process deserving the attention of all members of the society, especially those with special 60 training, experience, and competence in the study of early learning and development. In short, early edu— cation is necessarily interlaced with development in other areas and may best be conceptualized as basic . . . 59 soc1al1zation. Bloom strengthens the argument when he adds that: In a static agrarian society it is possible that the development of a particular characteristic would be regarded as the responsibility of the individual and/or his family. It is quite likely that the relative isolation of the individual and his family would mean that others would be unaware of the way in which the individual is developing and perhaps few would be concerned about the effects of this development. The rapidly changing character of urban life, the increasing interdependence of peOple, and the increasing complexity of the society make it especially difficult for individuals who have marked problems in adaptation and learning. The declining opportunities for unskilled workers and the increasing need for a highly educated popu— 1ation have raised new educational requirements for our youth. School dropouts and lack of interest in higher education become problems of concern to both the individual and the society. All these matters point up the need for increased social responsibility.60 Hunt goes on to say that: Such observations suggest that if nursery schools or day—care centers were arranged for culturally deprived children from age four——or preferably from age three——until time for school at five or six some of the worst effects of their rearing might be substantially reduced. In the light of the challenge of our changing ecology, it is very 59Robert D. Hess, "Early Education as Sociali— zation," in Early Education, ed. by Robert D. Hess and Roberta Meyer Bear (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1968), PP. 1-2. 60Bloom, gp. cit., p. 231. ..-_-—--...-..,, -—-.~. v1- -, . _ .-.._ ..a c..- .. _ . . 61 exciting to encounter people who are generally con— sidered sensible planning to utilize preschool experiences as an antidote for what is now being called cultural deprivation and social disadvantage. The importance of the preschool program is sum- marized well by Hymes when he states: It is good to see some children beginning to get the break that all young children deserve. These children are frequently called "culturally deprived"—— a terrible term! It is an ugly way of saying that their homes cannot give them all the experiences these children could use fruitfully at this stage in their development. This is the whole case for nursery schools and kindergartens for all: all threes and fours and fives are "culturally deprived" . . . even children from more privileged homes. Youngsters this age are reaching out for more ideas, more sights, more friends, more new experiences, than even the best home can usually provide. This is not a condemnation of homes or of family life, anymore than the existence of colleges is an implied criticism of homes. Three or eighteen, the home alone cannot meet all the needs of its eager, reaching—out, hungry, and intellectually thirsty offspring. Kindergartens in America got their start in city slums; possibly public nursery schools may get a new start in the same setting.6 Keeping the child's needs in mind, what should be the purpose of an early childhood education program? Short, concise, effective definitions are difficult to formulate. Yet, there is a need to extend the purposes of early childhood education beyond the ambiguous goal of "educating the whole child." The literature reviewed presented many suggested answers to the question. 61Hunt, gp. cit., p. 89. 62James L. Hymes, Jr., "Schools for the Culturally Deprived," Grade Teacher, May, 1964, p. 107. 62 Dewey stated that: The child of three, four, etc. is not a purely latent being whom the adult has to approach with great caution and skill in order gradually to draw out some hidden germ of activity. The child is already intensely active, and the question of edu- cation is the question Of taking hold of his activities, of giving him direction. Through direction, through organized use, they tend toward valuable results instead of scattering or being left to merely impulsive expression.6 Piaget contributed insights about the thought processes of children: how they learn, and the meanings they attribute to everyday phenomena; the transitions from intuitive to logical thinking. His chief contri— bution to the preschool level of teaching was his insistence on the need for providing opportunities for direct experience rather than second-hand telling or showing, and for recognizing the child's level of maturation and readiness for the experience, according to Beyer.64 Piaget stressed the importance of social interaction, that children Often learn more from each other than from the adult teacher. He also emphasized the close association of activity with language in learn- ing. Children learn not only by doing, but by discussion about what they are doing or viewing.65 a— fi—i w r v— 63John Dewey, The School and Society (Chicago, Ill.: The University of Chicago Press, 1915 and 1943), p. 37. 64Beyer, gp. cit., p. 203. 651bid. 63 Spodek claims that there is nothing natural about any school, even a preschool; and the very nature of the educational process requires that if it is effective, the child ought to be different as a result of his experiences within it.66 Deutsch goes further when he states that: A good preschool program would attempt to give the child the antecedent preparations for school that the home, community, and at least relative affluence give to the middle—class child. Such programs could be set up only after intensive training of teachers and staff to work on the problems of communicating with the parents as well as developing methods and techniques for compen— sating the child for a narrowness of experiential variation. The attempt would be to enrich those developmental areas most functional and operative in the school learning situation, thereby estab— lishing both cognitive and attitudinal continuity between the preschool and school years. Hopefully, knowing that the child is most responsive to acquiring basic skills in the preschool and early school years, these skills can be fostered, and their acquisition can thus help lay the basis for a reduction in school failure experiences and an increase in school success. In addition, the attempt must be made to engage the child as an active participant in the learning process rather than as a passive recipient of a school experience. Hunt states that: The trick is to capture each child's interest by making the circumstances which he encounters in the program relevant to the information he already has in his storage and to the skills he has already 66Bernard Spodek, "Sources of Early—Childhood Curriculum," Young Children, October, 1970, p. 45. 67 school Child," gp. cit., pp. 20—21. Deutsch, "Facilitating Development in the Pre- 64 developed. The problem is to adapt the program to the child instead of waiting for the child to attain readiness for the program. The Educational Policies Commission Of the NEA state that: The objectives of instruction in these years lie in four major areas~—intellectual, emotional, social, and physical. The intellectual goals include the promotion of curiosity, growth of language and generation of readiness for the intellectual activi— ties that will come in later years. They also include the develOpment of the ability to handle concepts, to perceive and meet problems, and to observe and listen.69 To paraphrase the commission, one of the main contributions which early education can make to a child's intellectual development is the enlargement of his span of experience. Under skilled guidance, a child's new contacts with the world become new learnings and Open new possibilities. There are new worlds to discover in virtually every situation-—the world of nature, the world of play, the economic world, the world of oneself, the world of one's relations with others. Before entering school all children have some experience of some of these worlds and can benefit from more; some children have sur— prisingly scanty experience of anything and learn sur— prisingly little from such exposure as they have. 68Hunt, The Challenge of Incompetence and Poverty, gp. cit., p. 43. ‘69Educational Policies Commission of the NEA, "Universal Opportunity for Early Childhood Education," NEA Journal (November, 1966), 9. 65 The emotional goals of early education include promotion of children's sense of security and self- respect; there are no more important prerequisites than to learning, happiness, or mental health. To this end, a child must find school a congenial place. He must frequently have a sense of accomplishment, a sense that he is able to learn by himself and to help others. He must feel respected and valued. Relations between school and home are particularly vital at the nursery level. A little child adjusts most naturally to a new environment if his parents are Often there. It should be common practice for mothers to accompany children to school and become involved in school experiences. Both parent and teacher can also profit from associ— ation with each other. The teacher profits from the parent's knowledge of the child, and parents can learn ways in which they might help further the goals of early education. It is highly desirable that the parents recognize what early education is trying to do for their children. Early schooling should be part of the excite— ment of childhood. The curiosity, inventiveness, and spontaneous energy of young children are sources from which a lifetime of learning can develOp. A school program for these children should therefore offer experiences designed to enhance these qualities. 66 The third major area in which early education seeks development is that of a child's relations with other children and adults. A young child tends to see himself as the center of the world. If a child is to lead a happy and responsible life, however, he must balance his egocentricity with a concern for and responsibility toward others. He must learn that other children, too, are "me's." On the other hand, if he never asserts himself or if he has been taught to obey others blindly, he must learn that he too, can contribute and that he too, has rights that are to be respected. Finally, early education must devote con— siderable attention to the child's physical well-being and development.70 Hess and Croft get more specific: The preschool years are normally a time when the child develops educability, i.e., a readiness and capability to learn from a formal institution such as the school. Educability has three basic com— ponents: 1. Cognitive skills-—ability to recognize and label objects, to count, to name letters of the alphabet, to pick out colors, to talk and ask questions, to see relationships, to generalize 2. Motivation to succeed in school—~acceptance of school as a reasonable place to commit one‘s energy and effort--development of a desire to learn and to succeed in the sort of things the school experience represents 3. Acceptance of the role of pupil—-recognition of one's relationship to the school and its rules 7°Ibid., pp. 9—10. 67 to the teacher, and to learning; tendency to adopt an initiating assertive approach to the world of information, to attend to tasks and to persist in them.7 Hansen and Hansen claim that: In an attempt to account for societal as well as individual goals, the purpose of early childhood education must be twofold: To develop to some agreed—upon normative level, intellectual, social, physical, and manipulative behaviors, allowing and encouraging each child to seek his own level above these. To encourage development, to no agreed—upon norma- tive level of the many potential gifts, interests, and abilities of each child by exposure to a sampling of all society offers. Development implies that children learn in dif— ferent ways, at varied rates of speed and through their own individual learning styles.1 Hess and Croft discuss the impact of the physical environment: Interaction with the physical environment is an important part of the learning content for young children. A great deal of what three—to—fives learn in a nursery school program comes from direct interaction with their environment. They explore and discover with their bodies and senses the excitement of high places, the fascination of tunnels, the motion of swings and rope ladders, the texture and shape of a multitude of objects and materials. Their senses continuously bring both general and specific knowledge of all that surrounds them. In creating their own world they use what is in the environment to build and tear down and then to build all over again. From deal— ing with their surroundings they learn first—hand to choose and judge—-they find out which objects and situations they can control and which they 71Hess and Croft, 9p. cit., p. 79. 2Harlan Hansen and Ruth Hansen, "ECE Purpose and Keystones," Instructor, August/September, 1972, p. 70. ‘— 68 cannot. Aware of their influence, knowledgeable teachers plan and use the facilities of a nursery school to provide a constructive as well as pleasant learning environment. The intimate tie between language and thinking is intrinsic to the nature of intellectual growth. The child's ability to manipulate words is a reliable measure of his thinking ability. If his vocabulary is limited, if he talks in grunts and one—word sentences, the capacity for elaborating his perceptions into concepts—-the general process we call thinking--is stymied. Kerber and Bommarito write, in this regard: The linguistic and perceptual experiences in these crucial years largely determine the level of mental processes for life. . . . The language set gained in early years largely shapes these categories which incorporate——or fail to incorporate—~later experience. 4 Educators who are aware of these findings recog- nize the importance of giving the young child every opportunity to develop skill in using symbols before it is too late. Especially for children from culturally deprived backgrounds, this is an essential function of the preschool. Shane states that: One important influence in developing programs for very young children is the concept of environmental mediation--the idea that during the child's early life wholesome forms of intervention in his milieu 73Hess and Croft, gp. cit., p. 49. 74King and Kerber, QB; cit., p. 9. 69 can help him become more effective in his transactions and interactions with others. While a sentimental interest in improving the environment of children has existed for centuries, the concept of a deliberate, planned intervention is for practical purposes, a phenomenon of the Sixties.75 Because many disadvantaged children have never looked at a book or visited a library and have never even heard hundreds of words that are well within the grasp of most young children, Moore76 recommends that schools begin a program for underprivileged children at the ages of three to five by getting them started on the vital word-learning process. In this way, the talents and prospects of some of these youngsters could be salvaged. Hunt concurs with this line of reasoning when he says: Counteracting cultural deprivation at this stage of development might best be accomplished by giving the child the opportunity to encounter a wide variety of Objects, pictures, and appropriate behavioral models, and by giving him social approval for appropriate behavior. The setting should encourage him to indulge his inclinations to scru- tinize and manipulate the new Objects as long as he is interested and should provide him with appro- priate answers to his questions. Such varied experiences would foster the development of repre— sentative imagery which could then be the referents for spoken words and later for written language. Children aged three and four should also have the opportunity to hear people speak who provide syntac— tical models of standard grammar. 75Harold G. Shane, "The Renaissance of Early Childhood Education," Phi Delta Kappan, March, 1969, p. 412. 76Moore, 92. cit., p. 26. 77Hunt, The Challenge of Incompetence and Poverty, 2E} cit., p. 89. 70 Cutts also concurs in stating: If these children are to master the basic language skills of listening and speaking, they must have a wider range of experiences-—both real and vicarious-—than their more fortunate counterparts. Such experiences should include listening to stories told or read by the teacher; taking field trips to parks, farms, zoos, airports, fire stations, and other points of interest; using and listening to tape recorders, hearing records; and seeing movies and film strips. In all these activities, the main objective is to provide pupils with oppor— tunities for language experience. They must, therefore, have plenty of time to react to and 78 talk about the things they have seen and heard. The erroneous concept that the preschool is a period of marking time is slowly disappearing according to Widmer.79 Children grow, build their concepts, skills, and attitudes through interaction with their environment. The child's growth and learning are given direction and depth through the quality of the environment, and the meaning of the experience to him. The middle—class child is read to, is spoken to, and is constantly subjected to a stimulating set of experiences in a very complex environment. He learns to use language to fix aspects for his world in his memory. Parents make deliberate efforts to make the child more observant, to motivate 78Warren G. Cutts, "Reading Unreadiness in the Underprivileged," NEA Journal (April, 1963), 23. 79Emmy Louise Widmer, The Critical Years: Early Childhood Education at the Crossroads (Scranton, Penn.: International Textbook Company, 1970), p. 10. . I“. 71 him, and to reinforce desired responses. In short, he learns to learn very early. To paraphrase Butler,8O it is evident that many children have experienced events that interfere with learning, even before entering preschool programs, so for these children the problem is one of changing atti~ tudes and behaviors that have developed even at four or five years Of age. Such children may truly have an intellectual deficit, but many have also had experiences that interfere with the removal of this deficit and with social competence. Butler continues: It appears that in spite of a mother's good intentions, her failure to inject sufficient cog— nitive meaning into her interactions with her child may structure the situation so that he fails to learn and develops a negative attitude toward the experience. By this routine, a mother may induce negative attitudes, not through the child's imitating her or her interjecting her views, but by him reacting adaptively to her well—meant but harmful teaching behavior.81 Many of the children who have had experiences that interfere with learning do not come from low socio— economic levels, although low socio—economic status adds to the likelihood of such disadvantaged behavior. Many of these children have already had experiences that have alienated them from society. As Edwards points out, 80Butler, gp. cit., p. 123. 8libid. 72 however, the vehement and Often bitter debate among pro— fessionals about the kind of education that is appropriate for the very young makes no sense. Children from widely varying backgrounds may require quite different kinds of education to capitalize on——or compensate for——their previous experience. What is required today is not the passionate defense of strongly held convictions, but for more knowledge than we now possess of what approaches unlock doors for particular kinds of children. The time for scoring debating points is past.82 Deutsch helps conclude the argument when he states: What I would hope for is a move toward an early childhood concept, running from three years of age to the end of third grade, with early childhood centers built into the architectural plans of the school. Thus, instead of being a flashy one-shot affair, preschool education will have to be built into the school curriculum.83 Prescott best concludes with the fact that: Group experience is not only valuable as a way to find new friends and of getting along better with other children; there is added enrichment when adults provide a climate of warm love and deep respect for children as human beings. There is also added enrichment when the children treat the adults and the other children with love and deep respect. For being loved and loving, in return, facilitates identification with parents, relatives, teachers and peers by which the culture is inter— nalized more readily and organizing attitudes and values are established easily. When one feels loved and loves in return it is easy to believe that which one's objects of love believes, and it is easy to aspire in the directions encouraged by one's objects 82Esther P. Edwards, "Kindergartens Are Too Late," Eigturday Review, June 15, 1968, p. 68. 83Deutsch, "Facilitating(Development in the Pre— £3<3hool Child," gp. cit., p. 11. _ - «-..-... .~~. .u. m.- —- .-_ -m 73 of identification. The unloved child feels so much insecurity that he scarcely dares to try his wings in learning. Or he is so full of hostility that he tends to reject what he is told and to refuse to meet the expectancies that face him, as a way of demonstrating his power to himself. Obviously the readiness of loving persons provide meaningful experiences and to aid him in the learning process are further facilitations that give great advantages to loved children. Great love and great patience is required of a teacher of young children.84 Fuller85 summarized eleven studies that pointed out the relationships of early childhood education to later adjustment to school and six studies of the effects of early childhood education on general social develop- ment, though she drew no general conclusions. These studies are extremely difficult to relate to the problem of total adjustment because most Of the researchers con— sidered single or multiple personality or behavioral aspects instead of the overall picture. For example, Walsh86 found that nursery school children were less inhibited, more spontaneous, and more socialized after six months in the program. They also had developed more independence, initiative, self—assertion, self—reliance, 4Daniel A. Prescott, "The Role of Love in Pre— school Education," Childhood Education, February, 1962, p. 273. 85Elizabeth M. Fuller, Values in Early Childhood Education (Washington, D.C.: Department of Kindergarten- Primary Education, National Education Association, 1960), pp. 1-72. 86Mary Elizabeth Walsh, "The Relations of Nursery Ehchool Training to the Development of Certain Personality ‘gsraits," Child Development, January—March, 1931, pp. 72— 9. .* 74 curiosity, and interest in the environment and more habits of health and order. Hattwick87 found improve— ments included decreases in fearing strangers in shrink- ing from notice, in avoiding play with others, and in staying close to adults, and increases in sociability and in expressive behavior. Joel88 discovered that with continued attendance at nursery school children showed a significant improvement in routine habits, emotional maturity, and social maturity. Other studies pointed up the importance of the value system of the raters and the relationship between the type of program provided for children and the way in which they responded. Burgess89 described Swift's review of studies in which it was reported that investigations of the same child over a period of attendance in the nursery school pointed to a greater degree of social outgoing behavior, more successful use Of social techniques, and greater 87Berta W. Hattwick, "The Influence of Nursery School Attendance Upon the Behavior and Personality of the Preschool Child," Journal of Experimental Education (1936), 180-90. 88Walther Joel, "The Influence of Nursery School Education Upon Behavior Maturity," Journal of Experi— mental Education (1939), 164—65. 89Evangeline Burgess, Values in Early Childhood Education (Washington, D.C.: Department of Elementary— Kindergarten—Nursery Education, National Education Association, 1965), pp. 1—96. 75 maturity and independence. Studies that compared nursery school attenders with a matched group of nonattenders, Swift concluded, have not resulted in clear—cut findings reflecting superior social adjustment on the part of children who have attended nursery school. Actually, by her own summary, ten studies indicated positive social learning, while only two did not. According to Butler: One would have to state unequivocally that research on values in early childhood education is very inconclusive; that if one must always have pre- dictable outcomes of a program in order to accept it as worthwhile; we do not as yet have such evi— dence. We have evidence that some children seem to gain in I.Q. as a result of enrollment in early childhood programs. Most of the intervention programs tend to produce at least temporary I.Q. gains when they concentrate on specific cognitive skills, but even then, the gains are not always certain and may tend to level off within a few years. Some children who have been enrolled in early childhood programs achieve better in primary grades; some do not. Some children improve in their skills in relating to other people as a result of early childhood programs and some do not. Interestingly enough, when the results of enrollment in different kinds of programs are compared, the greatest gains are not always shown in one kind of program or another. Even the most carefully planned intervention programs do not bring the lower class child to the intellectual level of the middle class child.90 The situation is still similar in many ways to what it was in 1960 when Fuller concluded that " . . . the research support of values in early childhood edu— cation is abundant, but so is research support of weak- nesses in present early childhood educational programs, 90Butler, 92‘ cit., pp. 145—46. 76 of gaps in knowledge of how to measure what one wants to know of confusion as to what value systems are to be employed when evaluations are made."91 From the current perspective, another conclusion by Fuller points to contrasts: What is certain to be learned from such a literature search is that given a normal and ready child, an alert and skilled teacher, some ingenious materials, time to work, and an atmosphere and physical plant which is conducive to 1earning—-all is well! But let any one element be lacking or less than perfect, and trouble can occur.92 Butler concludes that: Since then, we have put forth an intense effort to educate not—so-ready children, we have utilized not-so-skilled adults as teachers; we have con— ducted a "crash" program; and we have created programs with unbelievable divergence in classroom atmosphere. From this perspective the inconclusive- ness of research data should come as no surprise, but we have added so many dimensions to the research that our likelihood of finding causal relationships may well increase.93 Parental and Home Involvement in Preschool Programs Recent research findings have caused child development specialists to reevaluate traditional tenets Of readiness, maturation, the dangers of premature pressure upon the child to read and write, and similar 91Fuller, QB. cit., p. 62. gzlbid. 93Butler, gp. cit., p. 146. 77 long-accepted theories. The impact of television in the lives of very young children, the high mobility rate of American families, the whole nature of life in our society have forced a total reappraisal of early edu— cation. In addition, in order for individuals in con- temporary society to benefit from any educational structure, a major effort appears needed to improve the quality of urban family life. Educators are coming to realize that early childhood education is a critical period in the formation of the social being that a child will become. And as the importance of sociological factors in early childhood education are recognized, it is also important to recognize the need for more effective means of observ- ing the child in his socio—cultural environment in order to develop relevant and effective teaching techniques. There is a need to recognize factors that contribute to the child's emerging value system and to understand more about how he thinks. Family life and family love are among the most cherished of American values. In addition, they are important to the healthy development of the individual physically and spiritually, and they are basic to his happiness. They are regarded as a birthright of every child and parent. Moreover, except in extreme cases of neglect and mistreatment at home, it is hard to conceive of an institutional alternative to the home and family 78 that could do as well. Therefore, although early school— ing is needed, family life must be strengthened, not replaced. The need is for a complement, not an alter— native, to family life. Relations between school and home are particularly vital at the early childhood educational level. According to the Educational Policies Commission of the National Education Association: A little child adjusts most naturally to a new environment if his parents are often there. It should be common practice for mothers to accompany children to school and become involved in school experience. Both parent and teacher can also profit from association with each other. It is highly desirable that the parents recognize what early ‘ education is trying to do for their children.9 Twenty-five years ago a book by Warner, Havighurst, and Loeb was published which bore the title, Who Shall Be Educated? A current sequel might appropriately be called Who Shall Educate? As the responsibility for sociali- zation shifts from the family to the school, decisions as to who will plan and administer the educational process become critical, at least to those who believe that early experience is salient in the development of personality and of cognitive behavior. As Vann points out: 94Educational Policies Commission of the NEA, "Universal Opportunity for Early Childhood Education," in Early Childhood Education Rediscovered: Readings, ed. by Joe L. Frost (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1968)! pt 70 79 What we're saying is those people who have children in the schools are closest to the situation and ought to have something to say about it. They ought to be able to determine who teaches and what is taught. If they do not have the expertise they need on their lay board to develop the cur— riculum, for example, they're wise enough and con— cerned enough to get the people they need.95 McCarthy concluded that, contrary to general opinion, disadvantaged parents are concerned about their children and willing to cooperate with school personnel when a plan is devised that is within the realm of capabilities.96 In the growth of professional and specialized training in education, there is occasionally a tendency for teachers and administrators to regard themselves as the educational experts and discussion-makers and the parents as clients or customers. This view of education as the business of educators may create a gap of communi— cation between community and school and lead to a school system which is divorced from the needs and values of the community it serves. This happens even more easily in large systems which have centralized administrative functions and control. In recent years separation has 95Albert Vann, "Battle to Control Black Schools," Ebony, May, 1969, p. 44. 96Janet Lee G. McCarthy, "Changing Parent Atti— tudes and Improving Language and Intellectual Abilities of Culturally Disadvantaged Four-Year—Old Children Through Parent Involvement" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Indiana, 1968). 80 led to demands on the part of parents for community con— trol of the school in which parent groups are asking for much more responsibility for the Operation of the school itself. At the preschool level such concerns apply especially to publicly funded programs. The question of the extent to which the family and the school share similar goals, expectations, and patterns of achievement is particularly relevant for schools that work with chil— dren from low-income families. As Hess and Croft point out: Because there is often a disparity of cultural background, education, and socioeconomic level between the mother and the teacher, there is potential for problems of communication in their relationship. Tensions are heightened when the mother comes from a background which the teacher does not understand or where opportunities were meager in comparison with those of the school staff.97 Hess and Croft also speak to the point of the interest and involvement level of lower sociOveconomic families when they state: In some instances, teachers have the attitude that mothers from economic and social levels less advan- tageous than their own lack interest in their children's education. This is a myth. On the contrary, women with few resources Often see the school as the beginning of advantages for their children even when they have little understanding of their own importance as educators, or little time and energy to fulfill this role. If the 97Hess and Croft, gp. cit., p. 76. 81 teacher's attitudes about the parents of her stu— dents are stereotyped and biased, they obviously interfere with the communication between school and home.98 The parents and the family structure of the child has a great deal of influence on the intellectual growth of the child. Through preschool programs, early home— school relations can be established and the parent can profitably be helped in accepting their role in the development of the child. Moore, Moon, and Moore state that scientific evidence comparing the validity of the home and the school as early childhood environments 99 clearly favors the home. Pitcher, et al., say that since the young child is extremely dependent on his home and family it is unrealistic to think of his education apart from his parents. Parents provide or deny stimu- lating environments.loo Lewis points out that: Today, young parents in nuclear families with one or two children have little to guide them in this new experience of parenthood. They lack experience 98Ibid. 99Raymond S. Moore, Robert D. Moon, and Dennis R. Bdoore, "The California Report: Early Schooling For All?" Ijhi Delta Kajpan, June, 1972, p. 621. looEvelyn Goodenough Pitcher, et al., Helping Efioung Children Learn (Columbia, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill EPublishing Company, 1966), p. 7. 82 with children, probably being products of small nuclear families themselves, and have few resources to turn to for support.101 Moore states: Report authors proclaim, with some sense, the virtue of bringing parents into preschools to help. But let's extend this common sense: Emphasize the home as the ideal environment and bring supervising teachers to homes or homevtype centers. Barbrack and Horton, Susan Gray, Earl Schaefer, and others have shown this plan to be more cost—effective.102 Moore continues: We suggest that there are viable procedures and principles, perhaps Old-fashioned, which are con— sistent with the mass of basic ECE research. Among them: 1) Our first efforts should be directed at helping parents in the home to understand the develOpmental needs of their children. 2) Unless the homes are hopeless, true sociality and good self—concepts are better developed through home chores and other activities which teach dependa- bility, order, integrity, etc., than they are by farming children out to preschools. 3) Parents should be encouraged to worry less about "teaching" children and more about being warm, communicative companions to them. 4) To restore origins-~that is, the homes—-is a much more challenging and exalted calling for ECE professionals than building sub- stitute environments, even though some of the latter must of course be done. More and more ECE specialists are beginning to think this way. Among them is a former principal psychologist for Head Start, Glen Nimnicht, who now believes that 20 or 30 minutes a day playing with mother at home may be of greater value than several hours in pre— school.103 lOlElizabeth Lewis, "The Real California Report: .A.New Approach to Education," Phi Delta Kappan, April, 1973, p. 559. 102Raymond S. Moore, "Further Comments on the (Dalifornia Report," Phi Delta Kappan, April, 1973, 19p. 560-61. 1°3Ibid., p. 561. 83 The question of how to effect behavioral change or to develop desired behavior in young children has many facets, one of which concerns the older significant people in the life of the child, those persons who serve as models for the children. In a summary of research on the potency of models Butler104 has indicated that behavioral change in the child can be facilitated by placing him in an environment in which he is exposed to models exhibiting the desired behavior at a level that the child can emulate with some success. Butler continues: The potency of the model is considerably enhanced when the child feels a strong emotional involvement with the model, when there are complex patterns of interaction, when the person is perceived as having high status, and when the model represents group of which the child is or aSpires to be, a member. The child will tend to adopt patterns of behavior that are prominently engaged in by his family, his class— mates, the neighborhood gang, and older children whom he admires.lo A child is shaped by the nuclear group into which he is born. Traditionally, he is prepared for functional membership in the larger society by his family. The child's interaction with his family, beginning from birth, determines an essential aspect of his personality—— luis idea of himself. He cannot see himself directly, 104Butler, 92. cit., p. 74. lOSIbid. 84 but only as reflected by the attitudes Of the people around him. His family and his early teachers thus have the power to grant or deny him the gift of self—esteem. Baruch states: We are today realizing more and more that a child is not a separate entity. The child's family is a part of the child. He is so closely linked with his parents during his earliest years that their satisfactions, anxieties, frustrations are bound to be felt by him and to impinge on his satis- factions, anxieties, and frustrations. Because of the infinitely close connection between a child and his mother and father the preschool must think in terms of parents as well as children. Without parents entering vitally into the picture, a nursery school is not a nursery school.106 King and Kerber continue: The White House Conference identified an urgent need to reach out and enlist the adults of disadvantaged areas, particularly parents, in preschool programs for disadvantaged children. The same should undoubtedly be done with parents of children from more privileged, middle—class homes. Young children come into the school setting from the bosom of their families and return to the family setting after a few hours spent in school. It would be unfortunate for those devising programs for young children in American society to plan a curriculum without extensive involvement of parents, both mothers and fathers, as well as grandparents, 107 siblings and interested adults of the community. Hildebrand states that: There is a growing consensus of opinion that efforts of home and school must be united if each child is to benefit fully from his educational opportunity. Hymes says, "We have to end the separation of home 106Dorothy Walter Baruch, Parents and Children GO 339 School (Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1939), 1;. 29. 107King and Kerber, gp. cit., p. 79. 85 and school. Too much is at stake to let the foolish lack of communication persist in which the left hand never knows what the right is doing." Nowhere in the long educational continuum is the parent-teacher relationship more important than in the child's earliest years. Being the child's first teacher, the nursery school or kindergarten teacher is in a strategic position to set the stage for early and continuing parent-school interaction.108 Speaking on the influence of parents Kagan states: For young children the identification motive is very important in the development of motivational conditions for mastery of intellective skills. If the child's parents possess intellective skills and communicate to the child that they value them, the child.will be strongly motivated to acquire these skills to feel more similar to his parents. Many differences in school performance can probably be accounted for in terms of the degree to which a child has adopted as an identification model a parent or parent surrogate who exemplifies mastery. If the child has not been exposed to models who practice and value academic tasks, he enters school not only with a minimal desire to learn but also with a set of competing motives. Such a child must be made more receptive to learning by increas— ing his motivation to master.1 Great importance is given to the role of the parents by a number of investigators. Differences in motivation are associated with the way the child learns to perceive the environment and its rewards for 108Verna Hilderbrand, Introduction to Early Childhood Education (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1971), p. 32. 109Jerome Kagan, "Motivational and Attitudinal Factors in Receptivity to Learning," in Learning About JLearning: A Conference Report, ed. by Jerome Bruner (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1966), 36. 86 achievement. For example, according to Freeberg and Payne,llo lower—class children have been found to per— form more effectively for a material incentive, whereas a nonmaterial incentive is just as effective as a material one for middle-class children. Willmonlll has reviewed research that points out that educational motivation is greatly influenced by expectancies within the home, by the influence of social interaction, by a satisfying relationship between parent and child, and by self— concept. ‘ To paraphrase Hess speaking to the point that in a society in which early socialization--and training of all kinds-~takes place primarily in the home, the parents hold legal responsibility for decisions about most of the experiences that the child encounters. They have virtually exclusive right to plan the pre-school program. Psychologists, social workers, ministers, and other professionals typically have only an advisory con— sulting status. Except in extreme and atypical situations the parent exercises the Options that determine the nature of early training. For legal, moral, and 110Norma E. Freeberg and Donald T. Payne, "Paren- ‘tal Influence on Cognitive Development in Early Child— IIOOd: A Review," Child Development, March, 1967, p. 78. 111Betty Jean Willmon, "Parent Participation as a: Factor in the Effectiveness of Head Start Programs," Elbe Journal of Educational Research (May, June, 1969), 410. 87 psychological reasons, the professional can play only a supplementary role, even when the behavior of the parent is clearly to the child's future disadvantage. When the process of education—~or the technique of socialization——is institutionalized through the school, however, the community, through some form of government, assumes responsibility, Often in a direct way and without necessarily involving the parents in planning. The decisions made and the programs developed are applied to all. When this occurs the locus Of decisions about what to teach and how to deal with the developmental problems of three- and four—year—Olds shifts from parents to nonfamily sources.112 Hess and Croft point out the benefits of parental participation when they state: The nursery school gives parents a chance to examine, and in a sense to validate, their own behavior as well as to observe their children. By watching their children in a school environment they can see whether their own techniques and attitudes are as influential as are those of others. Thus they gain a sense of whether their problems and ways of deal- ing with them are different or the same as others, and what methods are the most effective. The nursery school affords an important source of information for parents who want to become as adequate and com- petent as possible in dealing with their young chil- dren.113 112Robert D. Hess, "Early Education as Sociali- zation," in Early Education, ed. by Robert D. Hess and JRoberta Meyer Bear (ChiCago: Aldine Publishing Company, .1968), pp. 2—3. 113Hess and Croft, pp. cit., p. 77. 88 In some instances a mother may need help in handling her preschooler and yet be unaware that she has a problem. She feels, perhaps, that her child is going through a "stage" and he will eventually grow out of whatever she finds objectionable. Meanwhile she'll just keep extra close watch on him. Having a chance to compare her child's behavior with that of other children his age, and talking over her observations and experiences with the teacher and with other parents, may be all this mother needs to bring about better results with her son. Or a mother may know she has a problem and yet be too proud, or for some other reason unwilling, to ask for help. Close parent-teacher relationships make it possible to share problems of this kind and to work them out together for the benefit of the child. As Baruch points out, "helping parents gain a greater measure of security is the primary end and aim of parent education."114 A parent needs to feel capable of independent thought and action. She needs to feel security enough within her— self to try out various procedures. Group meetings, reading, communication with the school, Observing, par— ticipating in group affairs, individual conferences—~all offer avenues through which processes function, leading toward increased security and strength. As Gordon points out: "One of our hopes is that the mother will find her 114Baruch, pp. cit., p. 33. 89 experience with her child so satisfying to her that she will continue to seek her own ways of relating and work- ing with the child."115 The mother has many roles in the development of the child. Two important roles the mother has are that of a teacher and a change agent. According to Forrester and Hardge: It is important that the mother recognize that she does teach her child many things. To optimize her effectiveness she can decide the direction that teaching and learning will take. Awareness of the child's level of development in different areas, her evaluation of the child, her ability to demon- strate to the child, and her reaction to the child's performance enable the mother to be effective as her child's first teacher. The child is dependent upon the mother for attending to his developmental needs. The mother can structure and change the conditions that surround the child in meeting his needs.116 For some mothers, participating in a school pro— gram will be their first opportunity to observe their child's behavior in comparison to groups of other chil— dren of approximately the same age. ("Behavior" here is used in the full developmental sense, not simply in reference to discipline.) 115Ira Gordon, "The Young Child: A New Look," in Early Childhood Education Rediscovered: Readings, ed. by JOe L. Frost (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1968), p. 20. 116Bettye J. Forrester, Beulah M. Hardge, et al., ,fipme Visiting With Mothers and Infants (Nashville, Tenn.: (Seorge Peabody College for Teachers, 1971), p. 9. 90 There is a good deal of confusion as to how much fathers have participated and should participate in preschool programs. Perhaps some Of the reason for the controversy over this issue is that the father's presence or nonpresence at school has often been equated in the teacher's mind with his degree of interest in the child. Obviously, a father is involved with his child in many ways other than putting in an appearance at school and does not necessarily see his physical presence there as a measure of his concern. As Hess and Croft state: Fathers may contribute to the education of their young children in many ways. Perhaps it is useful for teachers to consider their own motives for wanting fathers involved and what kinds of activi- ties would meet the interests Of the fathers. The problem of getting fathers to participate in school activities is often severe. Their time is limited and their preoccupation is generally with their own work; they feel that the care of the young child is primarily the responsibility of the mother. But there are circumstances that can be overcome. Cergfinly it is in the interest of the child to do so. An important component of successful preschool programs is home teaching according to Weikart, Rogers, 118 et a1. Teachers visit the homes of children to involve their mothers in the educational process and 117Hess and Croft, gp. cit., p. 90. 118David P. Weikart, Linda Rogers, et al., TEE Cognitively Oriented Curriculum (Washington, D.C.: Pub- lications Department, National Association for the Edu— cation of Young Children, 1971), p. 79. ”m-..— . — ‘d— 0.4-- a...7—e_..‘ 91 to augment and extend the school activities on an indi— vidual basis. In addition to home teaching, child reading practices are discussed in group meetings of the parents as part of the overall effort to sustain a home environment that will stimulate and support the intellectual growth of the child. Weikart, Rogers, et a1. continue: There are two general purposes which have evolved for the home teaching: (1) to involve the mother in the teaching process in order to give her a background of knowledge concerning the educational needs of her child so that she could provide edu— cational support at home, and (2) to implement the curriculum on a one-to-one basis with the child in the home.119 In conclusion, to paraphrase Hess and Croft, the benefits which accrue to the family from interaction with the school are part of the rationale for parent involvement. These benefits may come directly through conferences with the teacher, attendance at parents meet- ings, and informal discussions With other mothers. Or they may rise indirectly as a mother develops greater understanding of her relationship with her child through classroom observations. Seeing how other children and parents interact gives her a better perspective on her own behavior. In addition, the mutual respect and friendship which grow between women whose children attend the same early childhood education program not 119Ibid. 92 only help to satisfy women as individuals, but frequently lead to a realization that as a group they can achieve ends not otherwise possible.120 Butler points out that: Accumulating evidence both on the significance of parents as models and on parent involvement points to the important role of the parent. The impli— cation is strong that preparation for parenthood cannot be left to chance if we are truly concerned about the well—being of children. Love for chil- dren alone and concern for their learning do not necessarily provide the conditions essential to the desired learning. Educators have only begun to explore the possi— bilities of providing for children the kind of environ— ment they need to develop at a maximum level. Yet, the evidence seems to indicate that programs that are begun in the fourth or fifth year bring too little too late to make up for the deficit that the child already has. To paraphrase Butler, we cannot emphasize too strongly that such programs must be of the highest quality and that they must provide the kind of experiences that support the child's own attempts at learning. These programs for very young children need to be strongly focused on strengthening the family's ability to provide for the child. They need not necessarily take the child from the home for long periods of time. Alternative programs 120Hess and Croft, 9p. cit., p. 78. 121Butler, 9p. cit., p. 52. 93 should be provided, not only dependent on the family's ability to meet educational needs, but also designed to insure provision for all the child's basic human needs as well as his educational ones. These programs for the very young child should emphasize helping the mother learn ways to play with and to stimulate the child and to support his efforts toward learning so that he begins to derive the desired satisfactions from this activity. Such programs should not be limited to low—income fami— lies. Serious problems can exist in families of all sociOveconomic levels. Educators are not yet fully aware of the effects Of deprivation in early childhood, but they are sufficiently aware to prevent many diffi- culties that never need arise.122 Review of Several Existing Preschool Programs There are many preschool programs operating in the country today. The following are reviews of several preschool programs from varied sections Of the country. Project Follow-Through—The Florida Parent Edu— cation Program.'-Project Follow—Through is a federally funded program under the direction of Dr. Ira J. Gordon, Principal Investigator, and Director of the Institute for DevelOpment of Human Resources at the University of lzzIbid. 94 Florida. The program has been in Operation five years and currently involves eleven communities. The primary focus of the program is on the teaching of parents. The program emphasis is on (1) the development of nonprofessionals as parent educators, and as effec— tive participants in the classroom teaching process; (2) the development of appropriate instructional tasks which can be carried from the school into the home to establish a more effective home learning environment; and (3) development of parents as partners in the educational program for their children. The heart of the Florida Parent Education Program is the Parent Educators, so-called because their emphasis is on educating the parents in the home rather than assisting the teachers in the classroom although they do both. Although most parent educators are parents, most of them don't have children in the schools they serve, and none work in the same classroom as their child. They are usually from the same neighborhood or same ethnic background as the parents they work with. Two of these paraprofessionals are assigned to a specific classroom and each has one—half the class as a caseload. Fifty per cent of their time is spent in the classroom and 50 per cent is spent in the homes. Each child's home is visited every week, and one-half to one hour is Spent in each home working with the parent. N. _ _ ,. -.. . -r-_ 95 The parent educators, working with the teacher, develop home learning tasks which are used with small groups of children or individuals in the classroom and with mothers during the home visits. Part of this parental instruction is aimed at increasing the quality and quantity of parent—child interaction in an edu- cational setting. Over the course of the school year, the parent educator assists the mother in the utilization of desirable teaching behaviors while teaching the child. The parent educator collects data on home educational environments and the attitudes and performance of indi- vidual children. She also collects data on the effec— tiveness and degree of utilization of the home learning tasks. During her home visits, the parent educator pro— vides mothers with information about educational, psy— chological, sociological, medical, dental, nutritional, and welfare services available to children and families in the community. She elicits suggestions for tasks from the parents. She informs the mother about the Policy Advisory Committee activities and encourages her par- ticipation in them and in classroom activities. The parent educator functions as an instructional aide in the classroom. The instructional role carries with it technical functions which are designed to supple— ment the instructional program in the classroom and the home. The parent educator serves in liaison between 96 the classroom teacher and the homes in which she works. She will assist the teacher during group parent meetings and during parent conferences. A key person in the program is the classroom teacher. She supervises the classroom work of the parent educator and assists her in planning and imple— menting the parent education activities. She, with the assistance of the parent educators, develops and selects the home learning tasks. She plans with the parent edu— cator before the visits, and receives her report after— wards. The Florida Parent Education Program serves to tie together instruction and parent involvement. They see parents working in partnership with the schools in the development of their children. By using the parent educator in the classroom and as a home visitor, they hope to establish increased communication and knowledge of the home on the part of the school and the school on the part of the home which should facilitate an increase in partnership activities that enhance both parties. The program stresses that parent education in its highest form means that parents share in the decision—making processes and learn effective means for influencing the learning situation in school as well as at home. The program strives for all concerned to carry out the complex system of building firm relationships . . . ._ A 97 between home and school, developing effective home—learning materials and involving the parents in teaching not only their own children but also influencing the learning of all children. The Ypsilanti, Michigan Home Teaching Project.-— The Ypsilanti Home Teaching Project was an effort to explore the feasibility of sending teachers into the homes of disadvantaged families to provide a training program for the mother and a tutoring program for the preschool child without an accompanying classroom pro- gram. Only four-year-olds and their mothers were included. Each mother and child were visited for one and one-half hours per week and were involved in a carefully individualized program. The contact was to permit the systematic development of the foundations necessary for the intellectual functioning of the child through direct tutoring of the child by the teacher, and child management skills in the mother through direct mother—teacher interaction during the tutoring session. Dayton Ohio Public Schools Early Childhood Edu— cation Program (ECE).—-Early Childhood Education began in Dayton in September, 1965. Since March, 1966, it has been financed by federal funds under the Elementary Secondary Education Act of 1965, Title I. 98 The project is administered by the Dayton City Schools. Twenty—two public elementary schools are involved. The term "center" is usually used instead of "school" because it is not in all cases possible to carry on all activities within the school building. Spaces have been rented in nearby buildings and in private homes in a few cases. The emphasis in ECE is on prekindergarten chil— dren or on children who are three and four years old. One center has an experimental group that includes two— and-a-half year olds. The normal enrollment in a prekindergarten class is twenty. Since each class has a head teacher and an assistant teacher, the ratio of adults to children is one to ten. Most Dayton schools had kindergartens before ECE came into existence. In project schools, the kinder— garten has been coordinated with ECE in such a way that the work begun in prekindergarten will continue through kindergarten. Each kindergarten in a project school has a teacher paid by Dayton City Schools and a teacher aide paid by Title I funds. Thus a child who enrolls in ECE at the age of three (or even two and a half) will continue to receive the same kind of training through ages four and five. 99 Early Childhood Education cannot give prekinder- garten training to all three- and four—year—olds in Dayton. It was established, and that is the purpose of Title I, to help those who are educationally disadvantaged. ECE makes every effort to enroll those who are most eligible. Parents in the "target area" are informed of the program through radio and T.V. announcements, schools, churches, and social services agencies. A door—to—door campaign is conducted by project teachers, assistant teachers, and social caseworkers. They are assisted by parents of present or former students. After application has been made project teachers and social caseworkers visit the home to make sure that project space is saved for and used by those in most need of the training. In 1970, 1,140 children were enrolled in the pre- kindergarten classes. Two adults supervise 20 children each morning and another 20 each afternoon for 4 days each week during the school year. Title I funds pay all the expenses of the pre— kindergarten classes in project schools, and Title I funds provide a teacher aide in each of the kindergarten classes in these schools. Approximately 180 persons are employed by Early Childhood Education. The largest numbers of staff 100 members are the teachers, and aides, including kinder- garten teacher aides, pre—kindergarten teachers, pre— kindergarten assistant teacher, and prekindergarten aides. The Parent Program has nearly thirty full-time staff members. There are approximately twenty social case workers, consultants, and aides. In-service training is provided for all staff members. Every Monday of the school year is devoted to the staff. The children do not come to class on that day. Staff members meet and discuss problems that have come up during the previous week. Sometimes experts on child guidance or parent education are on hand to answer questions or guide the discussions. On Monday, also, teachers and other ECE staff members visit the homes of the children or meet with parents at the center. Consultants and specialists are as follows: curriculum consultants, arts docents, special services specialists, sensorimotor assistants, plus a parent con— sultant, nutrition consultant, natural science specialist, nurse, and language arts specialist. The Parent Program is an essential part of ECE. When parents participate, there is an opportunity to bring about fundamental and lasting changes in the child's total environment. Each center has a room in which the parents meet one day a week. During this time, their young children are watched over in another room 101 by project staff members. A parent program assistant is responsible for the weekly informal meetings. The mothers learn how to make inexpensive clothes for their children, and they learn how to prepare inexpensive, nutritious meals. The parents' room has sewing machines and other equipment which many of the mothers do not have in their own homes. Besides the informal weekly meetings, there are formal monthly meetings which may feature a guest speaker or a film. The mothers also take field trips and thus learn of services in the community that are available for families. Many parents have become involved in the classroom. They help with the snack, or read a story, or do something else to help the teacher. While helping the teacher, they are able to observe their own children in the group. Mothers also help at home by washing doll clothes and doll house curtains. Fathers also make things at home and sometimes they help in the wood- working center. Parents often accompany the children on field trips. San Francisco California Unified School District Prekindergarten Program.-—The San Francisco Unified School District's participation in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 includes in its elemen- tary division, prekindergarten education in certain designated poverty areas of the city. The purpose of 102 this kindergarten project is to compensate for the limi- tations in the experience of young children who come from culturally deprived environments. Specifically, the prekindergarten centers offer experiences which help children to build confidence and acquire skills. The daily program consists of a wide range of free choice and teacher directed activities to provide sensory and intellectual stimulation. Included are varied experiences with language, creative arts, dramatic expression, books, music, and nature study. Emphasis is also placed on nutrition, health and physi— cal development, and medical services. Every effort is made to establish close school-parent relationships that can serve as a motivating factor for the remainder of the child's school career. The program is designed for children three years, nine months to four years, nine months of age. China town, Western Addition, Hunters Point- Bayview, and Mission are the four designated poverty areas in San Francisco served by this project. The centers are located in elementary schools in these areas. Two classrooms in each location enroll approximately twenty children each per session, morning and afternoon. There are two teachers and one aide assigned to each classroom. In addition, the services of nurses, phy— sicians, social workers, and psychologists are provided. I? h ‘. 414.....-” -—— 103 Classes operate during the school year and when possible, during the summer months. In the seven years that prekindergarten has been a component of several district elementary schools, a philosophy of education has been developed that meets the needs of both preschool children and elementary edu— cation. The program was initially conceived as an early start for children to compensate for cultural and intel— lectual disadvantages at home. It has grown into a com— prehensive three— and four-year-old school experience which provides an enriching environment, cognitive stimulation, and preventive health care. Carefully designed classrooms and professionally trained staffs, with an adult—child ratio that meets the standards set by Federal guidelines, provide individual concentration on each child's intellectual, social, and behavioral needs. Non-English—speaking children are given the language facility they require to succeed in the grades. Nutritionally deprived children benefit from a free daily meal. Professional specialists--including social workers, a psychologist, a pediatrician, and a nurse-~provide daily scheduled service to the classrooms. Parents are counseled and gather regularly for infor— mational meetings and classroom participation. At the present time, prekindergarten operates under Federal and State regulations within the Children's 104 Centers Division of the SFUSD. As such, it complies with requirements established by the State Board of Education, as to indoor and outdoor square footage, toilet facilities, medical service, and nutrition. Federal regulations as interpreted by the State specify staff ratios and class size. District policy has established an enrollment age of one year prior to kindergarten age. Children's Centers administration has designed the program, following ESEA guidelines, and supervises the daily operation. Prekindergarten enrollment derives from the inner—city, target community and is on a first-come/ first—served basis, with a means test for eligibility. Twenty children are enrolled in a class with a staff ratio of one teacher to ten children; and one adult to five children. Sessions are three hours in length and include a mid-class meal; there is a morning and after— noon session each day for a different group. There are 560 children enrolled in 28 classes at ll elementary schools as of March 15, 1973. Oak Street Community School, Flint, Michigan.—— The Oak Street Community School in Flint, Michigan has three preschool programs currently in operation with plans to begin a fourth in the next school year. The first is a Title I Pre—Kindergarten program, funded by the federal government. This program is for 105 four-year—old children, who qualify under the federal guidelines, and meets at the school. Currently, thirty- seven children are enrolled and they attend classes for onevhalf day. This enrollment is an anticipated 75 per cent of the entering kindergarten for next year. One teacher and one teacher aide instruct the children and basically stress academic readiness and development. It is a highly structured program and involves perceptual development, Distar and T§X_materials. There are two outreach programs at the Oak School. These are funded primarily by three churches in the area and the school Parent-Teacher Organization. The Early Learning Home Teaching Program is directed by a half— time teacher who trains volunteers and college students to work with parents having children from infancy to age six. These volunteers and students work in the homes. Emphasis is given to training the parent to assist the child in developing skills important to school readiness. A toy lending library is also used. In this case, toys are signed out like books and brought into the home and left for one week at a time. Disease prevention practices are also included. The home visit program is currently in its second year of existence. As of January, 1973, a total of eleven families, with sixteen children, were visited by fifteen home visitors. Each family is given weekly materials for an "at-home project." The parents 106 then plan a project for their preschoolers using these materials. This program is also used to recruit parents for participation in other activities at the school. The second out—reach program at Oak School is known as the Parent-To—Parent Program. This program was designed to center around a paid core group of five parents with preschool age children. The decision to pay parents instead of requesting volunteers was based on the premise that a salary of ten dollars a week would facilitate finding potential members and perhaps induce a greater spirit of commitment. The function of the Core Group is to visit weekly and befriend a total of twenty— five families, five families per Core Group Parent. The hope was that an informal network of families with pre- school children would be established in the community and a bridge built between this network and the school. The Core Group Parents are required to attend weekly two- hour meetings at the school with the director of the program and to visit their families weekly. The toy- lending library is also used in this program. This program is basically aimed at getting the parents in the school community to become acquainted with each other. This is especially important because the Oak Street School Community is an exceptionally transient one . 107 The Oak Street school staff has a proposal ready, that if funded will start the operation of what is known as a cottage nursery. Three cottage nurseries are planned for the next school year. These nurseries will provide educational services in the mornings in a parent leader's home for six threevyearvold children per home. The parent leader will be trained and supervised by a teacher on the Oak School staff. The parent leader will receive training in specialized areas such as arts and crafts, creative movement, story telling and reading aloud, development of motor skills, and language develop- ment. Health prevention services will be developed. These will include immunization, physicals, dental care, and nutritional education. Parents will be required to attend monthly in-service meetings and serve on various parent committees. The cottage nursery program will give priority to A.D.C. families having two-and-one-half to three—year-old children. Summary This chapter was a review of the pertinent literature dealing with early childhood education and preschool programs. The review was divided into four areas. The first area explored the history of early childhood education from the fifteenth century to present times. The second area presented the case for preschool 108 programs. Included in this section was the support of preschool programs for disadvantaged children, or chil- dren from low socio—economic status; the kinds of activities or programs that should be included in an early childhood curriculum; and some general conclusions concerning preschool programs. The third section dealt with parental and home involvement in the early education of children, and why parents are so important in the edu— cational processes of their children. The fourth area was a review of several existing preschool programs from different areas of the country including: The Florida Parent Education Program, The Ypsilanti Home Teaching Project, The Dayton Ohio Public Schools Early Childhood Education Program, The San Francisco Unified School Dis— trict Prekindergarten Program, and The Oak Street Elemen— tary School, Flint, Michigan Preschool Education Program. In Chapter III, the philosophy, background, and development of the preschool program at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac, Michigan will be described. CHAPTER III THE PHILOSOPHY, BACKGROUND, AND DEVELOP- MENT OF THE PRESCHOOL PROGRAM Background-«The Human Resources Center The city of Pontiac, Michigan, is facing a situation not unlike many other urban centers of the United States today. There is a real crisis in the inner city. Many buildings are boarded up or falling down, businesses are moving to the suburbs, crime is rampant in the streets, there is a tremendous out— migration of people, especially whites, from the inner~ city to the suburbs, and those who remain are predomi- nantly lower socio—economic whites, blacks, and Spanish or Mexican Americans. Condon describes some of the forces for economic decay in the inner city of Pontiac as "the physical deterioration of the neighborhood; deterioration of homes, more with renters and absentee landlords, homeowners with lower incomes and an increased population with two or three families living within a 109 110 l The school district of the city of single unit." Pontiac includes an urban industrial center of 80,000 people which contains 65 per cent white, 30 per cent black, and 5 per cent Spanish—speaking persons repre— senting all economic levels of society. It was in the midst of this critical situation that the Human Resources Center (hereafter referred to as the HRC) was conceived and built. The term "Human Resources" has become a pOpular one in recent years. ThePontiac area alone has four programs with this term in the title. In this case, however, the Human Resources Center refers to a new facility which is owned and operated by the citizens and staff of the Pontiac school district. In educa— tional terms it is technically called an educational park. In common terms it is a large elementary school serving children from four former elementary school attendance areas. In addition to being a school it is also a center for community and adult services. The HRC presently serves approximately 1,900 children in pre~ kindergarten through grade five programs. In addition, it serves nearly 850 adults in day and night adult edu— cation and related programs. 1William J. Condon, "The Process of Planning and Seeking Support for a Human Resources Center for the City of Pontiac" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1970), p. 6. 111 The development of the HRC as a multi—use edu- cational park designed to combine a variety of services to community residents had its genesis in a petition signed in 1965 by more than 300 parents of the predomi- nantly black McConnell Elementary School and presented to the Pontiac Board of Education. The petition requested the Board to consider the replacement of the seventy- year—old McConnell School with a new building. The Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools realized, however, that other schools surrounding the downtown area would need to be replaced due to the age of the structures. At the same time it was apparent that the multi—faceted problems of this area were greater than could be solved by merely replacing existing school buildings with new ones. With assistance from the Mott Institute for Community Improvement at Michigan State University and the Educational Facilities Labora— tory of the Ford Foundation, a two-year study was under- taken involving city government, parents, Board of Edu— cation staff members, and representatives of community agencies. The study resulted in thirty-three specific recommendations and four major objectives and goals of the HRC as outlined below: (1) To provide an improved educational program for elementary students from the four—school area which could be used as a model for the entire 112 school district. (Standardized test results indicated students attending schools surrounding the downtown Pontiac area were achieving signifi— cantly below both national and local norms.) (2) To provide increased and improved community ser— vices to residents of the four—school area. (While demographic studies showed a preponderance of middle— and low-income families, they also indicated the area was almost void of social service agencies, recreational opportunities, medical and dental services, and adequate public transportation.) (3) To provide a racially balanced school setting. (Of the four schools included in the original study, two were predominantly black and two were predominantly white in racial make—up.) (4) To improve the physical environment of the com— munity through home remodeling, improved streets, lighting, and recreational areas. (The city of Pontiac participated as a partner with the Board of Education in the development of the HRC con- cept and has assumed the major responsibility for achieving this goal.) Shortly following the completion of the study, the voters of the school district approved a four—million 113 dollar bond issue to support construction of the facility. However, as the architect, the staff, and parent groups worked, it was determined that the four million dollars would be inadequate if the specific space and program recommendations were to be met. Through the cooperation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Office of Education, a 1.7 million dollar grant under the Neighborhood Facilities Program was obtained to assist in the building of the facility. From the outset, the Human Resources Center was envisioned as a means to regenerate the central city, as well as a focal point for activities designed to improve the life chances of citizens of all ages. Pontiac, like other similar communities, has a number of children who fail to grow and develop as it is expected they should. In developing programs to meet the needs of these children, the school district has accepted the premise that the shortcomings or faults are to be sought in the structure of the system and not in the children. The school district also accepted the fact that providing a meaningful educational program for dis- advantaged children is not a simple task. The deprived parents of today's deprived students are the products of an educational system which failed to meet their needs. Consequently, two crucial questions surface as we think of a change in the educational process: (1) Can the HRC ll4 approach more effectively meet the contemporary needs of society than the traditional approach to public edu- cation? (2) Can the HRC more effectively bring about changes in both the educational processes and the manner in which the school relates to the people who reside in the community. The following operational objectives, established by the Pontiac Board of Education, clearly reflect an effort to deal with these two questions. Objectives of the HRC as Established By the Pontiac Board of Education In keeping with the community education philosophy of the Pontiac Public Schools, the Board of Education established the following objectives for the Human Resources Center: Objective 1: Enriching and strengthening of the educational pro- gram for children by more effectively utilizing the resources of the school district and implement- ing instructional methods and techniques that proved to be effective in the ESEA Title III experiments. Objective 2: Providing Special programs and activities to supple- ment the basic instructional program. A year-round program to meet the recreational, social, and cultural needs of children is conducted on an after— school, week-end, and summer basis. Included are: 115 (1) After school and summer classes to build upon the regular school program; (2) Recreational and enrichment activities; (3) Increased adult pupil contact through volunteer tutorial programs; (4) Student recognition activities; (5) Field trips; (6) Cultural activities in the areas of music, art, and literature; (7) Maintenance of an open library and resources center. Objective 3: Providing programs to meet the special needs of chil— dren and the community through direct assistance and/or referrals to other agencies. An advisory committee consisting of representatives from the community school, city government, and the various public and private agencies offer services to area resi— dents and provide coordination between agencies to serve as a clearing house in an attempt to insure that the total need of families is met. Included in the building design are facilities to house agency personnel and to provide direct medical and dental treatment to children and adults. While all of the following agencies have committed themselves to full- or part-time services to .._~. .. W ' ' Ada-LWHH—a 7 116 the HRC, it is physically impossible to accommodate all of them.' They are selected and housed according to the immediate needs of the school and the community and include: (1) Oakland County Mental Health Society (2) Oakland County Department of Health (3) Aid to Dependent Children (4) Legal Aid Society (5) Oakland County Commission on Economic Opportunity (6) Oakland County Family Service (7) Pontiac Area Urban League (8) City of Pontiac Public Library (9) City of Pontiac Department of Parks and Recreation (10) City of Pontiac Department of Planning and Urban Renewal (11) Oakland County Volunteer Bureau (12) Mott Institute for Community Improvement, Michigan State University (13) Oakland Community College (14) Oakland University 117 Objective 4: Involving parents in the school program. The vast majority of parents of disadvantaged children want an education for their children leading to a better life than they have obtained. In many cases, parents do not know how to help their child achieve and, because of their unhappy school experience, fear the school and school people. The Pontiac Public Schools suggest that an obligation of the school should be to assist parents in achieving the confidence and sophistication they need to support their child in the educational process. How- ever, it should be added here that through the combined efforts of school and agency personnel, it is antici- pated that continuing contact between the school and the parent will be maintained from the pre—natal period through the school years of the child. A variety of avenues are utilized to maintain this close contact as outlined below: (1) Positive teacher and administrator home visitations (2) Frequent teacher phone calls and notes to parents (3) Home—school liaison workers (4) Urban league workers (5) Administrator—parent luncheons 118 (6) Parent-teacher conferences (7) Parent volunteer activities (8) Advisory committees Objective 5: Familiarizing parents and residents with the resources of the school and community and methods of exercising their rights and responsibilities. In carrying out objective number five, two major vehicles are employed: the community advisory council and the block club. The City of Pontiac Public Schools feels that if the physical environment of the community is to be improved; if the school is to provide a meaningful educational program; if the social, economic, and health needs of the community are to be met, citizens will need to be involved directly in the decision—making process. Therefore, some means of facilitating this process must be developed. In the past, a system of block organi— zations feeding into area advisory committees has met with a considerable degree of success in terms of involving residents in meaningful dialogue with school, city, and agency representatives. The school and agency representatives initiated the formation of block clubs and advisory committees but stepped back into the role of resource persons after the individual unit was organized and functioning. A community newsletter is issued on a regular basis to inform residents of current ,, ._.‘~-.-_~o~_.‘.w.—w—_ --.. ___-_,.- .. ..v-- 119 school and community activities and to provide a forum for the discussion of issues. Parent field trips to other school districts and municipalities are organized for the purpose of learning about promising innovations and solutions to common problems. Objective 6: Providing home—management classes for parents. Through the services of the Pontiac School Adult Depart- ment, City of Pontiac Department of Parks and Recreation, Oakland Community College, Oakland University, and Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Program, a series of classes is being conducted at the HRC to assist families in managing their home responsibilities. Those classes already in operation are: (1) Child Growth and Development (2) Budgeting (3) Family Scheduling (4) Income Tax (5) Sewing (6) Cooking and Baking (7) Food Co—op Objective 7: Providing a self—improvement program for adult and out-of-school youth. 120 Many of the adults residing in the HRC area are handi- capped by a low educational level and a lack of the skills necessary for the enjoyment of an enriched life. Therefore, it was with this thought in mind that a variety of day, night, and summer classes and seminars were organized to include the following: (1) Adult Basic Education (2) Hobby Oriented Classes (3) Foreign Language (4) Recreational Pursuit Classes (5) Consumer Education Seminars such as Smoking Clinics and Alcohol and Narcotic Clinics are held intermittently throughout the year. Objective 8: Providing recreational programs for students, adults, and out-of—school youth. The HRC encompasses one of the finest recreational- cultural facilities in the city of Pontiac. Included are a large gymnasium, a community auditorium, an arts and crafts area, a home economics room, an industrial arts facility, a large food service area, a 250—seat theater and vocal and instrumental musicfacilities which employ electronic pianos. Under the Neighborhood Facilities Act, HUD paid entirely for those portions of the building designed for community use and partially 121 for areas to be shared between community and school dis- trict. The theater is used for community meetings and a community field house are part of this facility. A wide range of activities for all ages are scheduled in conjunction with community desires and in cooperation with the Pontiac Parks and Recreation Department. It is anticipated that this function will serve an outside of the conterminous attendance area of the HRC. Objective 9: Providing support and facilities for use by com— munity organizations. If the HRC is to fulfill its major purposes, it must relate effectively and cooperatively with the variety of community organizations which serve both children and adults. Therefore, the staff is available to work closely with the leadership of groups and agencies in the planning of activities within the community and in the HRC facility. Objective 10: Providing a program of high school completion for adults and out-of-school youth. Many adult residents in the community have not completed the requirements for a high school diploma and are, therefore, handicapped in securing satisfactory employ— ment and promotion. Through the services of the Pontiac 122 School Adult Education Department, a wide range of high school credit and high school equivalency (GED) classes are offered both during the day and evenings. It is hoped that the typical resident will be able to complete the majority of the requirements for a high school diploma or equivalency certificate in the HRC facility. Objective ll: Providing occupational guidance, professional growth, and job upgrading opportunity to adults and out-of- school youth. Through the service of Oakland Community College, the Michigan Employment Securities Commission, the Pontiac Area Urban League, and the Pontiac Schools Adult Edu— cation Department, a continuous series of seminars and individual consultations is conducted for community residents. The major purpose of these sessions is to provide information and counseling concerning improved employment opportunities as well as the resources and programs available to meet the appropriate requirements. Objective 12: Providing for the continuing educational needs of adults and out-of—school youth. Presently, Oakland Community College, Oakland University, and Michigan State University are offering off—campus undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education classes 123 designed specifically for residents or the professional members of the school district staff. In summation, therefore, through programs and services offered at the HRC, and with the support of the city of Pontiac through the Neighborhood Development Program, residents should be able to enhance their economic ability, health, housing, education, community participation, and family functioning. The center, then, should be far more than just another new school. While meeting the need to replace obsolete school buildings, the center should contain spaces for preschool classes and activities to benefit out—of—school youth and adults. It will not function like any other school before it and it will not quite look like any educational facility which has preceded it. Development of the Preschool Program Based on national studies and research, both the U.S. Office of Education and the Michigan Department of Education have placed Early Childhood Education high on their lists of educational priorities. This is evidenced by the priorities listed in ESEA Title I, Section 3, Head Start, the expanded Follow Thru Program, and the new Home Start Program. These priorities are especially well defined for industrial urban centers. 124 Additional evidence is available for the HRC attendance area. In the Fall of 1971 the Metropolitan Readiness Test and a locally designed Perceptual—Motor Program screening instrument were given to kindergarten students. On the Metropolitan "Test-A—Word Meaning," 74 of the 120 tested scored low normal or low, and on "Test—A—Numbers," 80 of the 118 tested scored low normal or low. The following chart shows the results of the perceptual motor screening administered to 126 kinder- garten students. Activity Passed Failed Dynamic Balance 102 24 Skipping 76 50 Static Balance 68 58 Two-Foot Jumps 89 37 The kindergarten teachers and Head Start teachers assigned to the HRC listed the following areas as major concerns observable with their present students: (1) Use of scissors, crayons, etc. (2) Dental Hygiene (3) Fine motor coordination (4) Socialization (5) Vocabulary From this evidence, the following critical educational needs were developed: 125 l. Poverty—level students from all groups exhibit low readiness skills upon entrance into a formal kindergarten program. 2. Poverty—level students and their parents exhibit a low level of understanding concerning career awareness and its relationship to academic moti— vation. 3. Children exhibit a low level of development of basic perceptual motor skills upon entering kindergarten. 4. Children exhibit a low level of understanding of the basic attitudes of people and the basic causes of racism that begin to emerge as they participate in the formal integrated group process as it begins in kindergarten. 5. Parents exhibit a high interest in changing these situations but a low level of knowledge concerning methods of how to accomplish change in these areas. As a result of these perceived needs and in keeping with the Board of Education objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 for the HRC, the superintendent and staff of the HRC formed a task force, known as the HRC Early Childhood Committee, whose charge was to assist in planning a proposal for a preschool program at the .32. 126 HRC. The membership of this committee was varied and included representatives from the following groups: (1) HRC kindergarten staff and administrators (2) Head Start staff and administrators (3) HRC parents (4) Community Action Programs (5) Elementary Education (6) Physical Education (7) Oakland University (8) Oakland County Commission on Economic Oppor- tunity (OCCEO) (9) Career Education Staff (10) Special Education (11) Research and Development The HRC Early Childhood Committee developed a demonstration project proposal for an ESEA Title III Grant. This prOposal dealt with the need for a new approach to prekindergarten that would better prepare children for entrance into a formal educational structure and more specifically into the educational park organi— zation for instruction. The proposal also suggested a definite link with kindergarten through the dual use of ESEA Title III staff and school district kindergarten 127 staff. At the time the proposal was written the kinder— garten team consisted of three teachers and two para— professionals working with six sections of kindergarten students (approximately 168 students on a half-day basis). In order to expand these services to about 400 three- and four-year-olds and their parents it was proposed that a project supervisor, two teachers, and ten teacher assistants be added to this structure and that their function be expanded to include a readiness program for all three-, four—, and five—year-olds in the service area. All staff, professionals, and paraprofessionals would work with all age groups on a scheduled and pro- rated basis. In this way parents and students could work with the same staff representatives for the full three—year program. Essentially, the program would provide para- professional help and direction to parents in working with their own children. Paraprofessionals would visit each home to meet with the parent and to leave instruc— tional materials for the student on a weekly scheduled basis. Professionals would make periodic visits to homes, provide instructional leadership and direction to the paraprofessionals, participate in in-service training for paraprofessionals, and teach demonstration classes for observation by parents and paraprofessionals in special facilities provided by the school district. 128 Exemplary aspects of this program include the use of paraprofessionals, professionals, and mother volunteers in in-service and/or training programs to provide them with the necessary educational tools to increase their effectiveness with three- and four-year-old children. The second aspect will be the conducting of the program throughout the neighborhood primarily by the parapro— fessionals and mother volunteers. The third aspect will be the use of specially designed HRC facilities for one- half day per week formal instruction of three- and four- year-olds by the professionals with paraprofessional and mother volunteer observation. Innovative aspects of this program include the assignment of the teachers to a kindergarten group and to community work with three— and four-year-old children and their parents, thus allowing the child and parent to work with the same teachers for all three years of the prekindergarten and kindergarten experience. The second innovative aspect is based on the assumption that many disadvantaged urban youth who are screened into Type A classrooms are the products of environmental retardation rather than mental retardation. A system of referrals is planned to identify and intervene in cases of physical or mental handicap at any preschool age. The third innovative aspect is the plan to use the HRC as a model for instruction and programming for all 129 Pontiac schools. These programs will be instituted in other schools through city—wide in—service training and observation sessions and the reaSSignment of about one- half of the HRC teachers to other Pontiac schools on a two-year rotation schedule. This project was seen as a supplement to the regular school district program in that the school dis— trict does not presently sponsor a program for three- and four-year—old children. However, it would be coordi- nated with the kindergarten program and Head Start. Certain project goals were established to help eliminate the critical educational needs already men— tioned. More specifically, the goals of the project are listed below. (1) Three— and Four-Year—Old Children a. To develop and improve the cognitive skills of preschool children. 1. Objects——Children will be able to name common objects and if feasible, demonstrate they understand their uses. 2. Colors—~Chi1dren will demonstrate that they can distinguish primary colors. 3. Parts of the body-~Children will demonstrate their ability to identify the various parts of the body, i.e., leg, arm, tongue, hair, etc. 10. 11. 130 Alphabet--Children will demonstrate their ability to recognize letters, name them and recite them in alphabetical order. Counting—-Children will be able to count to ten. Spatial relationships——Children will demon— strate their understanding of prepositions of position, prepositions of direction, and prepositions of distance. Temporal relations—~Children will demonstrate their understanding of temporal relations. Seriation-—Chi1dren will demonstrate their understanding of the concepts of size, quan— tities and qualities. Classification——Children will be able to classify ideas, objects, etc., into groups based on a common factor and will be able to explain their reason for making such a classification. Games~~Chi1dren will demonstrate that they can play various games (such as puzzles, peg boards, lotto, etc.) which call upon them to recognize shapes, colors, sizes, symbols, etc. Follow directions—-Children will demonstrate that they can follow oral directions. For 12. 13. 131 example, the teacher will say "stand up," "turn around," "touch your ear with your left hand," "move your right shoulder,‘ etc., and the children will respond. Story-telling——The children will demonstrate that they can tell a story. Conversation—~Children will carry on conver— sations with adults. b. To develop and improve the motor skills of pre— school children. 1. Large muscle development——the children will jump, balance themselves, climb, run, hop, skip, tumble, crawl, walk backwards, etc. Small muscle development——children will manipulate small objects, i.e., they will handle pencils, crayons, felt pens, brushes, puzzles, blocks, tinker toys, zippers, buttons, etc. They will also print their names 0 Eye movement development——children will become accustomed to left to right eye movements. Rhythmic movements—-children will march and move to various rhythmic patterns. They will 132 also rhythmically play various musical instruments and devices. To develop and improve the social skills of preschool children. 1. Social development——chi1dren will demonstrate their skills in social interaction. Children will share toys and other materials and equipment with others in the group. Children will follow rules in games. Children will demonstrate cleanliness by brushing their teeth, washing their hands, using a napkin, etc. Self—concept develOpment——children will demonstrate their self—concept of self- identity from others. Children will recognize themselves by name in a mounted photograph and will recognize, by names, other children in the games as well. Children will draw pictures of themselves and others for display in the room. Children will learn about various ethnic groups by meeting peOple from these groups, looking at pictures, listening to stories, etc., about people representing that ethnic background. _ III* I - I; tit. I £11: ‘ -.' 9. 133 Children will demonstrate a sensitivity to aesthetic qualities. To develop and improve the career awareness of preschool children. 1. The student will be able to recognize the different roles as they exist in families and community. The student will be able to identify duties, tools, and/or equipment of community workers. The student will recognize the variety of occupations within the home, school and com— munity. The student will be able to classify pictures of family members under two headings—~people at work and people at play. Later pictures will concern community workers. The student will be able to describe from a picture of a community helper what his occupation is. The student will be able to select from a group of items, or tools needed for specific careers, after a visit to school cafeteria, school office, nurse‘s office, boiler room, etc. 10. 11. 134 The student will be able to dramatize or role play jobs that are available in school or community. After hearing two stories about two community helpers, the student will be able to compare one community helper with another by telling likenesses and differences. The student will be able to recognize the sounds he hears (within the school and com— munity) which are occupational related. The student will draw a picture of a worker he has seen or heard and be able to relate to another person a story about his picture. After a student hears a story on a certain occupation the student will be able to draw a conclusion as to who the worker could be (astronaut, farmer, president). (2) Paraprofessionals a. To develop and improve the teaching style of paraprofessionals with children. b. To develop and improve the teaching style of paraprofessionals with other adults. 135 (3) Mothers of present three— and four—year—old children a. To improve each mother's ability to assist her child in physical development. b. To improve each mother's ability to assist her child in educational development. c. To improve each mother's ability to assist her child in social development. Evaluation Processes of the Program Three feedback mechanisms were designed into the program to assist in the evaluation process. First, a formal feedback system related to the objectives stated above were included in the evaluation design. Second, all parents involved in the program will be considered part of the advisory committee and will have the oppor— tunity to participate in workshops with the HRC Early Childhood Education Program staff. Third, the Pontiac Public School's Research and Development Department has developed a parent monitoring system that will be used in the project. A monitoring system is a means of checking whether a planned program has been implemented as planned. The basic purpose of a monitoring system is to provide infor— mation to the project director. This information can be used by the project director to make needed changes 136 in the program. A second purpose of the monitoring sys— tem is to provide information to the evaluator. This information can be used to help explain the test data collected on a particular project. In this connection the information gained from a monitoring system helps to explain why objectives were reached or not reached. A monitoring team made up of parents from the area will make periodic on site visits of the program. Each team member will receive training in the use of a checklist. This checklist will include the following factors: (1) major objectives of the program; (2) description of program activities related to the accomplishment of stated objectives; (3) persons identified to conduct and participate in the program; (4) materials to be used in the program. Each monitoring team member while observing the program will note on the checklist the particular activities taking place, the peOple involved, and the materials involved. It is anticipated that the monitoring team will meet with the program director prior to on-site visits. The monitoring system does not employ value judgments. It is merely a system of collecting infor- mation to be used by decision makers. It describes what 137 is happening in the area of program operations. The monitoring team does not carry out its role in a critical manner but rather as an interested group of individuals observing what takes place in the operation of the pro- gram. The evaluation of the Early Childhood Education Project consists of assessment of product and process. The product evaluation focuses on the outcomes of the project in terms of student and staff behavior. To conduct such an evaluation, considerable effort needs to be made in the area of instrument development. Some of the developed instruments would be given on a pre—post basis while others would be given on a post only basis. The design also includes a longitudinal study so that the program can be evaluated in terms of long—term results. Computer facilities and present testing pro- cedures make it possible to follow students over a period of time. This procedure permits assessment of whether or not any program gains dissipate or are main- tained. Process evaluation for the Early Childhood Edu— cation Program consists primarily of the development and implementation of the monitoring system. Feedback from the monitoring procedure is valuable information which points out to decision makers needed program modifications. Such feedback can also serve the purpose 138 of describing and improving staff performance on a day- to-day basis. The monitoring function can give valuable information in providing explanation for the extent to which product objectives are met. While product evalu— ation results are usually presented at the end of a pro— gram, process evaluation provides interim reports. Feed— back procedures also facilitate the existence of a viable communication network for all persons involved in the project. The Pontiac Research and Development Department also plays an advisory role to program staff in the area of development of program, goals, performance objects for curriculum units, and in planning in-service training programs. Dissemination of Information The program director will be responsible for all dissemination activities. The program director will be assisted by the director of the HRC, the director of Community Action Programs, and the early childhood education staff. Visitation tours will be conducted by parent volunteers. Agencies at the local level would assist in dissemination include the Oakland County Com- mission for Economic Opportunity and the Oakland Schools. The city of Pontiac and the Pontiac Public Schools are involved in a number of special projects in addition to the HRC and the Early Childhood Project at the HRC. a r. :17 7 ‘2:- -33“: 139 Many of these activities, including the HRC; have received attention through such dissemination activities as: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Articles in state and national publications; Providing resource people and consultants to state and national conferences; Providing program information to appropriate ERIC centers; Fully informing and cooperating with the State Department of Education; Conducting local on—site meetings and tours for visitors from the immediate area, state—wide and nationally; Newspaper and magazine articles. Responsibilities of the Staff The responsibilities of the Program Director of Early Childhood Education are to: (1) Provide leadership and coordination for all pro- grams designed to serve kindergarten and pre- school children and their parents in the Human Resource Center area. The major focus of this responsibility will be to supervise kindergarten and preschool teachers and teacher assistants in curriculum, teaching methodology, in-service (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 140 education, diagnosis and prescription of learn— ing, and organization of the program; Initiate and facilitate a program of parent edu— cation designed to assist parents in providing school readiness activities for their preschool children; Direct project dissemination activities; Coordinate with but not have direct responsibility for the program for post—kindergarten children, pupil personnel services, or adult education; Perform all administrative functions for the project within the framework of Board of Edu— cation policy; Be directly responsible to the principal of the Lower Elementary School of the HRC. The Coordinator of Evaluation for the Early Childhood Education Project is responsible for: (l) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Development of evaluation instruments; Supervision of data collection procedures; Carrying out statistical analyses of data; writing of evaluation reports; Supervision of program monitoring procedures; Supervision of assigned secretarial/clerical staff; 141 (7) Assisting in the development of research designs; (8) Coordination with the Pontiac Schools Research and Development Department; (9) Serving in a research and consultant role to school district personnel in matters concerning research, curriculum, teaching methods, and program changes. The teachers involved in the Early Childhood Education Project will be responsible for: (l) Assisting in the development of Parent Instruc— tional Kits; (2) Maintaining supervision of educational programs for thirty preschool children and parent training; (3) Directly supervising the activities of two para- professionals assigned to her team; (4) Conducting demonstration classes for parapro- fessionals and parents; (5) Maintaining standard pupil record—keeping pro— cedures; (6) Participating in dissemination and evaluation as required by the program. The responsibilities of the teacher assistants in the Early Childhood Education Project will be to: _ .H-..‘ ..L. ‘ .m- 142 (1) WOrk directly with parents and prekindergarten children in neighborhood homes; (2) Assist in the development of Parent Activity Kits; (3) Assist in the development and implementation of weekly and daily lesson plans and materials for use by parents; (4) Participate in all in-service programs; (5) Participate in Oakland Community College training classes; (6) Recruit parent volunteers and neighborhood center locations; (7) Assist in dissemination and evaluation procedures. Summary The present arrangements for early childhood edu— cation at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac are four full-time teachers and two half-time teachers serving 300 kindergarten students; and two part-time teachers and two part—time teacher assistants serving 36 Head Start four-year—olds. This will be supplemented with one and one-half teachers and 10 teacher assistants to expand the present in—school programs to include a com— munity-based preschool program for about 400 three— and four—year—olds in the HRC attendance area. This group is about 50 per cent white, 40 per cent black, and 10 per cent Latin. 143 The HRC Early Childhood Education Project includes 1.5 positions to administer, evaluate, coordi— nate resources, and disseminate information concerning the project. The basic program will include ECEP teachers and teacher assistants working on a bi—weekly scheduled basis with the parents of three-year-olds in their homes and on a rotating basis with parents of fourvyear-olds in their homes, and by conducting classes in the HRC for small groups of children. Besides the home contacts, all parents will be encouraged to par— ticipate in weekly in-service education activities and observation sessions at the HRC. “The major staff for this portion would include the present kindergarten teachers who would be released part time through schedul- ing arrangements and ten full—time teacher assistants. This staff would be supplemented by the other members of the ECEP staff and the perceptual motor staff. The perceptual motor component of the HRC—ECEP will be conducted by one full-time instructor and one full-time teacher assistant. The three major activities scheduled will be for the purpose of meeting the expressed needs of three- and four-year-olds. In Chapter IV, the actual implementation of the preschool program at the Human Resources Center for the school year 1972-1973 is discussed. CHAPTER IV THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRESCHOOL PROGRAM Introduction Williams states in his study of the Human Resources Center as a response to an urban crisis that: The community school program takes a holistic approach to the development of children. The com— munity school concept cuts across a broad spectrum of age levels, programs and attempts to meet the needs of people in the community. It is recom— mended that the philosophy of the program be expanded and many more programs be specifically designed and implemented for primary and pre— school children.1 In keeping with this recommendation and the community school philos0phy of the HRC and the Pontiac Board of Education, several preschool programs have been insti— tuted and are in operation at the HRC. These preschool programs are: (1) The federally funded Head Start program operated under specific federal guidelines for four—year- olds in certain socio-economic categories; ’— r v lEverett Joseph Williams, "A Case Study of a Response to an Urban Crisis: The Pontiac Human Resources Center" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1972), p. 142. 144 145 (2) A day-care nursery for preschool children whose parents are enrolled in adult education courses elsewhere in the HRC; (3) A federally funded preschool program for mono— lingual Spanish—speaking children living in the city of Pontiac; (4) The program open to all preschool children residing in the HRC attendance area, funded under an ESEA Title III grant, and known as the Early Childhood Education Project (ECEP). This study is concerned with the Early Childhood Edu- cation Project for several reasons: (1) the program is just beginning and could be followed during the develop— mental processes; (2) the purposes and objectives of the program are more in keeping with the community education concept and the leading authorities in early childhood education; (3) the program model is more applicable to other localities, not just those with minorities or dis— advantaged populations, and thus more in line with the stated purpose of this study. This chapter focuses on four aspects of the pro— gram: description of the program, initiation of the program, evaluation of the program, and future directions of the program. 146 Description of the Program All three— and four—yeareold children living in the HRC attendance area are eligible to enroll in the Early Childhood Education Program. The primary objective of the program is to prepare children for the kinder— garten experience with the assumption being that chil— dren receiving the services of the program will be better prepared for kindergarten than students not having the experiences provided by the program. On a regularly scheduled basis, two members of the HRC staff visit the home of the three— and four—year—old children enrolled in the program. This provides a one—to—one situation with the parent and the preschool child. The purposes of the home visit are: (1) To enable the HRC staff to provide parents with activity kits and instructional ideas and methods designed to help them learn more ways to teach their children in the home; (2) To encourage parents to conduct daily follow—up activities at home not only with their three- and four-year—olds but also to include younger brothers and/or sisters as observers and even participants in the home instructional activity; (3) To give the child an opportunity for a one—to—one learning situation with a person trained in Early Childhood Education. 147 In addition, the parents are strongly encouraged to bring their child to the HRC for workshbps and other activities. During these in—school visits the Early Childhood staff works with small groups of parents in the Parent Edu— cation room while the preschool children participate in planned preschool activities, demonstration classes, and motor—perceptual classes. The main purposes of the in-school visits are: (l) (2) (3) (4) To give parents the opportunity to exchange ideas with other parents and the HRC staff about the ways they have used the parent—child activity kits and instructional ideas and the benefits of the follow-up home activities; To enable parents during the school instructional visits to observe the HRC Early Childhood staff conducting preschool activities demonstrating the use of the parent-child activity kits and home instructional ideas with the three— and four-year-old children; To give the children the opportunity to socialize and interact with others of the same age thus beginning to implement the socialization process; To give the parents an exchange of ideas and information relative to the special needs and interests of parents of three— and four-year-old children. The topics discussed during these 148 sessions include information about child growth and development, how children learn, toys for tots, play activities for children, child disci— pline, and teaching the child to talk; (5) In keeping with the community education concept of the HRC, special interest sessions were scheduled in such areas as art, sewing, knitting, recreation activities, and cooking. In addition, for those who were interested, parents could enroll in adult education courses and other school and community job training and educational programs while the children participated in planned preschool activities. Parent-Child activity kits were develOped by the Early Childhood staff and made available to the parents during the home and school instructional visits. The kits contain helpful instructional ideas and methods designed to develop and improve the intellectual skills, movement skills, social skills, and career awareness skills of three- and four-year-old children. Some kits contain instructional materials which can be used by the parents and children during follow—up activities at home. The home teaching ideas and suggestions were developed to enable the parents to provide learning opportunities for their children while carrying on such regular household duties as cooking, cleaning, shopping, 149 putting away groceries, etc. Other teaching ideas suggest ways that parents can spend quiet moments with their children in meaningful play and other learning activities.2 Parents participating in the Early Childhood Education Program are eligible to become members of the Advisory Committee. This is the same committee mentioned previously that helped plan the original project. Parents on the committee are able to advise on all aspects of the program and offer valuable suggestions related to the content of the home and school instruc— tional visits, the Parent-Child activity kits, the parent education program, and the development of evaluation procedures. The Advisory Committee now includes members of the Early Childhood staff, parents with no children in the ECEP, administrators, community representatives, university representatives, and the parents enrolled in the program. The preschool classroom experiences in the per- ceptual motor skills area are aimed at developing sensory acuity and motor skills in a varied sensory environment that would encourage individual growth. In his book, The Origins of Intelligence in Children, Piaget states that the sensorimotor adaptions of the child‘s brain 2See examples of the Parent-Child Activity Kits in Appendix A. 150 begin at birth and continue to about six and one-half years of age. Piaget also states that no child should be denied experiences which would lead towards stimu- lation of the senses and bodily coordination.3 A wealth of sensory experiences is important for the integrated functioning of the brain. Many children have been denied critical sensorimotor experiences because of one of the following conditions: (1) Some type of cerebral dysfunction; (2) A lack of material childhood experiences due to cultural disadvantage; (3) Emotional upset; (4) Overprotective parents who stifle the child's natural instinct toward pursuing his own developmental processes. The rationale for the Early Childhood Education perceptual motor skills training is based on the hypothesis that by providing training in sensorimotor areas during the critical stages of sensorimotor adaptions from three to five years of age, many children will be able to overcome perceptual problems that hinder learning in the primary grades. The program is designed to prevent 3Jean Piaget, The Origins of Intelligence in Children, trans. by Margaret Cook (New York: International Universities Press, Inc., 1952), p. 9. 151 problems from occurring in the perceptual motor areas. Activities are planned which follow a developmental sequence in each of these sensorimotor areas: (1) Body image, space and direction awareness (2) Balance (3) Basic body movement (4) Symmetrical activities (5) Eye—hand and eyerfoot coordination (6) Large muscle activities (7) Fine muscle activities (8) Form perception (9) Rhythm The demonstration perceptual motor skills class meets in the morning at the HRC three days a week for approxi- mately one hour. Because of the interest of the parents and children a second demonstration class, held in the afternoons, was started in February. Initiation of the Program The project had the beginnings of its implemen— tation when the project director was appointed July 1, 1972. The project director, in the administrative organization of the HRC, reports directly to the director of the HRC, and has the administrative and supervisory responsibility for the kindergarten program 152 as well as the Early Childhood Education Program.4 The four kindergarten teachers who were to be involved in the project were already a part of the HRC staff, but the coordinator of evaluation, who also served half-time as an instructional leader, the perceptual motor skills teacher, and the ten teacher assistants had to be iden— tified and selected. The selection of personnel was accomplished by the end of August and the initial plan- ning stages were under way. Because the HRC attendance area contains a relatively high portion of the Spanish-speaking families in the district and the HRC is presently the center for Pontiac's Bilingual Education Program (ESEA, Title VII), two of the full—time teacher assistants employed were bilingual. In addition, all of the teacher assistants were eligible for the Career Lattice Program presently operating in the school district. This program enabled them to attend Oakland Community College as freshmen or sophomores and Oakland University as juniors or seniors, and have all tuition and related costs provided through Pontiac's Career Opportunity Program. All ten of the teacher assistants took advantage of this oppor— tunity. 4See a chart of the HRC—ECEP Administrative Organization for 1972—73 in Appendix B. 153 The months of September and October, 1972, were spent in making preparations for the program and training the teacher assistants. Since the kindergarten was con- sidered an integral part of the ECEP, an attempt was made to adjust and incorporate the kindergarten accord— ingly. All 300 kindergarten students came to school in the morning and the teacher assistants were assigned as aides to the four teachers. The premise was that this arrangement would leave the afternoons free for home visits by both the teachers and teacher assistants, allow time for in—school instructional visits, the con— ducting of parent information sessions, develOpment of parent activity kits, and to do their instructional planning. Most of the month of October, in addition to the training of the teacher assistants, was spent in recruiting participants for the program. This was done by advertising in the HRC newsletter, which is sent out weekly to the HRC community; by sending notes home with the kindergarten children; and by word of mouth to parents who come to the HRC and those already recruited into the program. By the early part of November, twenty- three children were enrolled in the program and were being tested using the HRC Profile and Body Parts tests. On December 8, 1972, the first home visitation was made and the first Parent-Child activity kit was distributed. At that point there were thirty—two children and 154 twenty-nine families involved. During the month of December there were also three workshops held which involved twenty-three parents and forty children. Also in the early part of December the first perceptual motor skills and physical education demonstration class for three- and four-year-olds was held. By January, 1973, there were fortyvthree children, from thirty—seven fami- lies, involved in the program and home visitations were being made on a regular basis. Several parent workshops had been held and the demonstration perceptual motor skills class was in successful Operation. However, an evaluation of the program's progress at this point by the HRC staff ascertained that the program was not progressing as well as had been planned and the objectives were not being adequately met. The problem seemed to rest with the fact that the teacher assistants were not making the number of home visits that they should have been and consequently the main thrust of the Early Childhood Program was not adequate. More children should have been involved, more homes should have been visited, and more time should have been spent with preschool programs. As has been mentioned previously, all of the kindergarten children were coming to school in the morning and the ten teacher assistants were helping the kindergarten teachers with that program. The afternoons were spent in grading 155 papers, making plans, and attending classes. As a part of the Career Opportunity Program, the teacher assistants were required to attend classes at Oakland University or Oakland Community College, one, and sometimes two, days a week. Consequently, the kindergarten teachers were not making any home visits, and the teacher assistants were getting out to the homes only one or two half—days a week. Taking all these factors into account, plus some additional problems that arose, it was evident that changes had to be made. The Early Childhood staff decided that at the beginning of the second semester the kindergarten children would be split in half, with one-half coming in the morn- ing and the other half coming to school in the afternoon. With the load on the teachers reduced the teacher assis— tants would then be released from aiding in the kinder- garten classes and could concentrate on their primary function-—making home visits and working with parents and preschool children. In addition, the other members of the Early Childhood staff, particularly the coordi- nator of evaluation, would not need to spend as much time on other activities such as preparation of the Parent-Child activity kits, and could concentrate on details of the project for which she was responsible and had been neglected up to that point. The month of February was spent putting the revised program into operation and by March, sixty—two 156 families, involving sixty-nine children, were enrolled in the program and were being visited in their homes regularly on a bi—weekly basis. In addition, three parent workshops and/or activities were held involving thirty parents and thirty-eight children. Included in the latter was a Dad's Night which gave the fathers a chance to become acquainted with the program and become involved in learning activities with their preschool children. By April, eighty—five families with ninety children were participating in the Early Childhood Edu— cation Program at the HRC and two more Parent-Child activities were presented that involved thirty parents and thirty-five children. In the early part of April, an outside evaluation team from the Department of Federal Programs visited the HRC and did a progress evaluation. The month of May was spent with the program functioning well under the new objectives and format. Although the teacher assistants were obliged to attend classes every afternoon the caseloads were maintained through the manipulation of other assignments and in-school activi- ties. From parental feedback and staff recommendations the decision was made to extend the program through an abbreviated six-week summer session. The summer program will involve the teacher assistants visiting the homes of three-year—olds three days a week and having all of 157 the four-year-olds, who will be entering kindergarten in the Fall, come to the school for in-school activities. Evaluation of the Program Because the Early Childhood Education Program is a federally funded project it was necessary that a team of evaluators examine the program to determine if the guidelines and objectives were being met. During the early part of April, a team from the office of Federal Programs spent a day at the HRC observing the preschool program, talking with teachers, teacher assistants, parents, students, and other members of the HRC staff, and from their limited observations made the following evaluative recommendations. Since this was only an interim evaluation, these were more suggestions than criticisms. 1. There seems to be excellent rapport between the ECEP staff and the parents involved. 2. The instructions given to the parents who par- ticipated in the in-school in-service was very good. 3. The activity kits, in general, were good. 4. There have been several changes in the program from that of the original proposal. Several of the performance objectives have been either altered, deleted, or nothing is being done in that area. 10. ll. 12. 158 There is a need to monitor the use of the Parent-Child activity kits. There is a need to explain more of the why's of the kits to parents rather than the how's. There is too heavy a reliance on blue-ditto kinds of materials, as well as pencil, paper, crayon, scissor activities in the activity kits. There seems to be a need for some type of needs assessment. The parent feedback is excellent, but there is no way of knowing if the objectives of the program are being met. There must be more clearly specified objectives and directions resulting from the changes made in the original proposal. Information should be collected in a more routine way. The director should have a more formal way of getting feedback from the staff (e.g. minutes from staff meetings). There is a need to collect data relevant to the revised goals. There needs to be some reference group for com— paring the pretest scores. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 159 There seems to be no longitudinal aspect or design in the program. The only concern seems to be with the children for this one year. There ought to be some cognizance of what will happen to the children and the families involved next year. There should be some goals for the second and third year of the project (e.g. How will the HRC staff know if the parents are work- ing better with children after being in the pro— gram two or three years?). Since this is supposed to be a model program, some means of dissemination to other schools, school districts, etc., needs to be done. The heart of the Early Childhood Education Program is the teacher assistants in the home working with the parents. Presently the teacher assis— tants are only working half—time, this is a real weakness in the program. The teacher assistants are not spending enough time in the homes. They need to spend more time with the project and less time attending classes at Oakland University. The teacher assistants need more exposure to out- side resources (e.g. social service agencies). The teacher assistants are asked some very technical kinds of questions by the parents ~t ‘ . . . -' "" ". —_'_..._.L" -'l'_. ..‘.'.—‘ \ ‘-- ‘-—¢-..,"—-.L—'-- - --—---—-a-r—1--=-‘- 18. 19. 160 that perhaps a teacher assistant is not capable of or knowledgeable about to answer accurately. There is a question of whether or not the three- and fourvyearvolds being served in the program are the ones who really need this kind of train— ing. There is a need to ascertain if this is the case. There is a concern about integrating the kinder- garten into the program. As a result of the recommendations made by the evaluation team, the HRC Early Childhood Education staff, in coordi— nation with the Pontiac Public Schools Research and Development Department, made adjustments in the program to try to ensure compliance with the revised goals and objectives listed below. A. To develOp and improve the cognitive skills of pre— school children. 1. Given a series of pictures depicting words judged to be essential to success in kinder— garten, the child will point to the correct picture. Given objects such as a ball, block, envelope, and button, the child will respond with a verbal description of each item. if 10. 11. 161 Given a color chart, the child will name each color as requested by the examiner. Given a set of objects the child will group objects that are the same size. Given a picture of children of varying heights the child will choose the tallest and shortest as requested. Given a picture of five objects of varying lengths, the child will point out the longest and shortest as requested. Given a series of pictures of geometric shapes, the child will point out which figure is dif— ferent from the other three figures. Given pictures of various shapes, the child will identify circles, triangles, squares, and rec— tangles as requested. Given the task of drawing figures the child will draw a straight line, circle, and square, which are judged by the examiner to be recognizable. Given a small object such as a block, the child will place the object in the following positions: inside, outside, over, in front of, in back of. Given the task of counting, the child will count to ten by rote. 12. 13. 14. 162 Given a series of sets of objects, of differing number, the child will correctly identify the number of members in the set. Given two sets of objects, one set with one to three members and the other with eight to ten members, the child using only visual inspection, will point out the set with more members. Students who have participated in the preschool program will demonstrate a higher level of achievement in the areas of word knowledge and numbers as evidenced by significantly higher scores on the Metropolitan Achievement Test given at the end of their kindergarten year. To develop and improve the motor skills of preschool children. 1. The child will be able to hold a 13" playground ball chest high, release it and catch it three consecutive times with both hands. The child will be able to kick a 10" stationary ball with one foot from a stationary position six feet or more. Given a 20" diameter circle drawn on the floor, the child will be able to step to the following directions: inside, outside, in front of, in back of, beside. a. -a-\‘ . . _ .. ' \ — N.“ A»; -.:..t£-.s=n._- 10. 11. 12. 163 Given a set of shapes, the child will be able to match identical circles, squares, triangles, rectangles to those randomly set on the floor. The child will be able to do a forward roll, without assistance, on an axis perpendicular to the starting line. The child will be able to do a knee and seat bounce on the trampoline without assistance. The child will be able to walk forward on the entire length of a 10' by 4" beam without stepping off. The child will be able to stand on one foot, arms folded for five seconds. The child will be able to jump with two feet ten consecutive times. The child will be able to climb five dowels of a ladder, stabilized in a vertical position, using cross patterning of arms and legs. The child will be able to mimic model doing arm movements in unilateral, bilateral, and cross lateral fashion. The child will be able to throw a 4" plastic ball overhand a distance of more than four feet. 13. 164 Given the task by the examiner, the child will be able to indicate where is up and down in relation to his body. To develop and improve the social skills of preschool children. 1. Given the task of identifying themselves, the child will respond by saying his first and last name . Given the task of identifying his age, the child will respond by telling his age in years. Given the task of identifying his residence, the child will respond by saying his address. Given the task of identifying body parts, the child will point to the part of the body named by the examiner. Given crayons and paper, the child will draw a picture of a person. Children in the program will demonstrate normal development in the areas of self help, sociali- zation, and communication as defined and measured by the Vineland Social Maturity Scale. Children in the program will demonstrate behavioral patterns conducive for functioning in kindergarten. 165 To improve understanding and career awareness for preschool children. Given a set of pictures of community workers the child will demonstrate ability to name the occupation of the community worker. To develop and improve the skills in teaching of paraprofessionals with children. 1. Paraprofessionals employed in the program will demonstrate understanding about the expected developmental levels of preschool children in the cognitive, social, and behavioral areas. 2. Paraprofessionals will demonstrate increased knowledge in providing continual feedback and intermittent positive reinforcement for the student. 3. The project director will rate individual members of the staff using continual feedback and positive reinforcement. To improve each mother's ability to assist her child in the areas of physical, educational, and social development. 1. Given the appropriate educational materials par— ticipant mothers will conduct regular preschool lessons with their children. . u. — -.- _---_— -"-:‘;T'."."' :...._ . i ' ‘ ‘* ' . ' . ' . . - .' . ' __=_- ‘5‘: .J..'_‘..r_.' Eli-L; .. ~_ N ,,, . ,. ___ __ _ _ _ _ ,_,. . 166 Given the appropriate reading materials, program mothers will read regularly with their children. Given the appropriate materials, participant mothers will increase verbal expression of their child. Program mothers will evaluate program materials periodically over the school year. Given a series of planned educational field trips, program mothers will become more aware of com- munity educational resources. The educational team will conduct workshops for participating mothers dealing with child growth and development. To modify, develop, refine program planning and implementation procedures. 1. Given the task of developing and/or selecting instruments to measure performance objectives, the educational team will construct/select necessary instruments. The educational team will write job descriptions for each staff member with the job description consisting of specific behavioral objectives which can be measured. 167 The project director will evaluate each member of the educational team on the basis of the behavioral objectives contained in the staff job descriptions. Given the task of constructing a time-task chart for the 1973-74 program, the educational team will make available to the project director, the constructed chart. The project director will hold regularly scheduled meetings with the educational team to facilitate project management. Certified teachers and paraprofessionals will file weekly home visitation logs with the project director and program evaluator. Given a population description the educational team will be able to state educational goals with performance objectives necessary to achieve these goals. Given the goals of an in—service workshop the educational team willwrite performance objec- tives rated to meet the essential requirements of appropriate, adequate performance objectives. The educational team will prepare, publish, and disseminate a monthly newsletter for partici- pating mothers informing them of program activities. 168 Future Directions of the Program The evaluation process of a new program is a continuing one. The Early Childhood Education Program is certainly not any different. As the project pro- gresses, various ideas are initiated, evaluated, and either incorporated or deleted. The HRC staff synthe- sized these continuing self—evaluations with the evalu— ation of the Federal Programs staff to determine the future directions of the program. The evaluation of the Early Childhood Education Program consists of assessment of product and process. The product evaluation focuses on the outcomes of the project in terms of student, parent, and staff behavior. To conduct such an evaluation, considerable effort needs to be made to survey available commercial instruments to determine their applicability for use. Should the survey indicate that appropriate commercial evaluation tools are not available, considerable effort needs to be made in the area of instrument development. Some of the developed instruments would be given on a pre— post basis while others would be given on a post only evaluation. The design also includes a longitudinal study so that the program can be evaluated in terms of long-range results. Computer facilities and present testing procedures make it possible to follow students ' If... - —1—_L‘}¥fl?-M——i-+ 7" 169 over a long period of time. This procedure permits assessment of whether or not any program gains dissi- pate or are maintained. Process evaluation for the Early Childhood Edu— cation Program consists primarily of the development and implementation of a monitoring system. Feedback from a monitoring procedure is valuable information which points out to decision makers needed program modifications. Such feedback can also serve the purpose of describing and improving staff performance on a day- to-day basis. The monitoring function can give valuable information in providing explanation for the extent to which product objectives are met. While product evalu- ation results are usually presented at the end of a pro- gram, process evaluation provides interim reports. Feed— back procedures also facilitate the existence of a viable communication network for all persons involved in the project. The Pontiac Public Schools Research and Develop- ment Department also plays an advisory role to program staff in the area of development of program, goals, per- formance objectives for curriculum units, and in planning in-service training programs. Test results will be used in two ways. First, test data from the client will be used in a diagnostic manner and a needs assessment will be made for each individual. Second, the data will .. ' .' _'-._.‘._} fl. 170 provide the HRC staff with information to determine to what extent the program has met its objectives. It is anticipated that program changes will come about as the result of the experiences of the first year. In the light of experience some objectives may be deleted, or modified while new objectives might be added. Evalu— ation designs reflecting measurement of yearly objectives will be constructed and included in the resubmission proposal. This would allow for the evaluation design to be constructed according to the performance objectives stated by the program staff. While it is likely that specific performance objectives will change as experience dictates, it is assumed that the goals as now stated in the current proposal will remain. Another factor to be considered is that the first year of the program entails the pilot testing of instru- ments. The experience up to this date indicates that some of the initial measuring instruments need modifi- cation if they are to be used to assess similar objec- tives next year. Presently the Pontiac Research and Development Department is in the process of constructing a preschool objective reference test and necessary com- puter software for data analysis. The evaluation design for the second and third year then will reflect instru— ment design changes. Of particular importance is that any measuring device that is used in the program be -. “'K—n... 171 constructed in a way so that the scale can be used in a diagnostic prescriptive manner. The primary objective of the Early Childhood Edu— cation Program is to prepare children for the kindergarten experience. It is assumed that children receiving the services of the program will be better prepared for kindergarten than students not having the experience provided by the program. This assumption can be tested by carrying out a study which compares the entry level skills of program participants with those of a comparable group of entering kindergarten students. The first phase of this study would begin in September of 1973. At that time all present four-year-olds in the Early Childhood Education Program would be tested as would be a sample of nonprogram entering kindergarten students. The hypothesis to be tested through comparison of the two groups is that entering kindergarten students having had program experience will score significantly higher than entering kindergarten students without the program experience. The testing of this hypothesis entails the selection of a control group with the exception of the program treatment. While matching the two groups on the variable of age, sex, ability, and socio—economic status would be desirable, it is proposed that dif- ferences on these variables be controlled through covariance analysis. 172 In addition to the above study it is necessary to explore the long-term effects of the Early Childhood Education Program. It is proposed that program partici- pants be followed through the first three years of school to determine whether or not there are any long-term benefits of the program. This procedure will necessi- tate keeping track of students who were enrolled in the program and building in a yearly comparison. Again the control group originally selected for testing out hypothesis one can serve as the comparison group for this yearly study.5 Summary The Early Childhood Education Program at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac, Michigan began on July 1, 1972, when it was funded under a federal ESEA, Title III grant as a demonstration project. The Early Childhood Education Program is designed to serve parents and their three- and four—year-old children residing in the Human Resources Center attendance area in the Pontiac School District. The Early Childhood Education Program accepts the premise of public responsibility for preschool 5Merle Smith, "Longitudinal Studies—~Early Child— hood Education Program," paper written as part of the proposed evaluation of the HRC Early Childhood Education Program proposal, Pontiac, Michigan, March, 1973. (Type— written.) ' \ 193,. ._u-:. - ‘ I-._-_;._-h=_. "'-'~."_- , . .- -2..,.:__.___. 173 education and recognizes the following as apprOpriate features of early childhood education: (1) Providing activities and information designed to (2) help strengthen each family's capacity to rear young children through parent education, consul— tation, and support services and materials; Creating a parent—school partnership to develop a continuum of learning experiences during the pre- school and primary grades. The following major project goals have been established for the Early Childhood Education Project: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) To develop and improve the cognitive skills, motor skills, and social skills of preschool children; To improve understanding and career awareness for preschool children; To develop and improve the skills in teaching of paraprofessionals with children; To improve each mother's ability to assist her child in the areas of physical, educational, and social development; To modify, develop, and refine program planning and implementation procedures. 174 The professional staff for the Early Childhood Education Program includes the program supervisor, a perceptual motor specialist, and an instructional leader who also serves half-time as the coordinator of evalu- ation. Ten teacher assistants (paraprofessionals) serve as home visitors. The Early Childhood teacher assistants visit in the home with parents and three- and four—year- old children on a bi-weekly basis. These Home Visitors provide parents with Parent-Child Activity Kits containing daily home training activities. The kits are designed to enable the parents to conduct daily follow-up learning activities in the home with their children. Each activity kit is developed to focus on a central theme and provides experiences with coloring, stories, cutting and pasting, poems, songs, and movement activities, and making simple learning games. Opportunities are provided for parents to par— ticipate at the HRC in child study sessions. These sessions focus on providing information and exchanging ideas relative to child growth and development and topics reflecting the special needs and interests of parents of three— and four—year-old children. Field trips are also arranged for parents to enable them to become more informed about resources in the community that have edu— cational value for both themselves and their children. Hopefully, the experience of the tours will help parents 175 better understand the community in which they live as well as places where families can visit during their leisure hours. A physical education specialist conducts a demonstration class for children three days a week in the HRC Perceptual Motor Laboratory. A variety of play activities is conducted to help promote the develOpment of movement skills, social skills, and perceptual—motor skills. Parents accompany their children to school and participate in child study sessions, volunteer activities, or informal discussion groups while their children are in the demonstration class. Parents par- ticipating in the Early Childhood Education Program become part of the Parent Advisory Committee. They advise on all aspects of the program and offer valuable suggestions related to the content of child study sessions, activity kits, experience tours, and other phases of the program. During the course of this initial year of the Early Childhood Education Program a process of evalu— ations took place which resulted in several adjustments as well as giving future directions to the program. At its peak, the ECEP actively involved ninety children from eighty-five families. Chapter V contains the summary, conclusions, and recommendations of this study. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS Introduction Efforts in the past decade have added immensely to the knowledge of the nature of child development and learning. Psychologists and educators together have demonstrated their ability to devise and implement pro- grams for young children and their families which try to facilitate greater human effectiveness. Certainly the social and political climate is right for both the concentration and expansion of further energies in this direction. The response of the children, of their parents, the results of the studies thus far make it clear: pre— school education, with its focus on the whole child, its appreciation of individuals, its commitment to an experience or discovery way of learning, has proved its worth. Preschool education is not a finished pro— duct, with all its problems solved. But the long back- ground of experience and the sound grounding in research 176 177 in growth and development have provided a framework that seems adaptable to new children, new times, and new settings. The past few years have thrown a bright spot- light on old concerns. There is a deepening of the long— rooted interest in parents: their understanding, their support, their reinforcement of school efforts, their supplementation of school programs, a firmer appreciation of the total family life in which the young child spends most of his time. There is a re—sharpening of the old awareness of the interrelationships of development, the intimate connection between intellectual growth and social, emotional, and physical health. There is a fuller realization of the importance of an interdis— ciplinary approach to early education, the team work of educators, psychologists, and social workers. No guarantee comes with all of this. Early child— hood education can only promise to help make the third and fourth and fifth years of life good ones. It cannot insure without fail that any tomorrow will be successful. Nothing "fixes" a child for life, no matter what happens next. But, exciting, pleasing early experiences are seldom sloughed off. They go with the child on into the first grade, on into the child's life ahead. The common aim is to help children learn, and to do it in such a way that the youngsters live their years of ages three and four and five in the richest, most satisfying, most constructive manner possible. 178 In conclusion, it must be asserted again that education begins at birth and that its most crucial stage -occurs during the early childhood years; that education is lifelong; that it embraces all human experience. In the current American society the question is no longer who shall be educated, but how educators can ensure each person the chance to realize his full potential. In pursuing the goal of optimum human development, we must invest more intelligent and human effort in education during the formative period of early childhood. Summary The problem of this study was how to develop and implement a preschool program in an urban elementary community school. Thus, this was a descriptive case study of the design, development, and implementation of the preschool program at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac, Michigan. The main purposes of this study were : (1) To serve as a yardstick which may be used to compare and contrast this program with other preschool programs; (2) To provide a model which may be of value to other schools or school systems attempting to initiate a similar program. 179 A survey of the literature pertinent to this study was explored as background material from which one could develop a rationale for developing and imple- menting a preschool program. The review of literature centered around (1) the history of early childhood edu— cation; (2) the case for preschool programs; (3) parental and home involvement in preschool programs; and (4) a review of several existing preschool programs. The Human Resources Center is a multi—use eduv cational park located in the inner city of Pontiac. The school was built to provide programs and services to enhance the economic ability, health, housing, education, community participation, and family functioning of the people of downtown Pontiac. In keeping with this phil- osophy, the Early Childhood Education Program was developed and implemented. The Early Childhood Edu— cation Program accepts the premise of public responsi— bility for preschool education and recognizes the follow- ing as appropriate features of early childhood education: (1) Providing activities and information designed to help strengthen each family's capacity to rear young children through parent education, consultation, and support services and materials; (2 v Creating a parent-school partnership to develop a continuum of learning experiences during the preschool and primary grades. ‘— 180 The following major project goals have been established for the Early Childhood Education Project: (1) To develop and improve the cognitive skills, motor skills, and social skills of preschool children; (2) To improve understanding and career awareness for preschool children; (3) To develop and improve the skills in teaching of paraprofessionals with children; (4) To improve each mother's ability to assist her child in the areas of physical, educational, and social development; (5) To modify, develop, and refine program planning and implementation procedures. The professional staff for the Early Childhood Education Program includes the program supervisor, a perceptual motor specialist, and an instructional leader who also serves half—time as the coordinator of evalu— ation. Ten teacher assistants (paraprofessionals) serve as home Visitors. The Early Childhood teacher assistants visit in the home with parents and three- and four—year- old children on a bi—weekly basis. These Home Visitors provide parents with Parent—Child Activity Kits contain— ing daily home training activities. The kits are designed to enable the parents to conduct daily L/— 181 follow—up learning activities in the home with their children. Each activity kit is developed to focus on a central theme and provides experiences with coloring, stories, cutting and pasting, poems, songs, and move- ment activities, and making simple learning games. Opportunities are provided for parents to par- ticipate at the HRC in child study sessions. These sessions focus on providing information and exchanging ideas relative to child growth and development and topics reflecting the special needs and interests of parents of three— and four—year-old children. Field trips are also arranged for parents to enable them to become more informed about resources in the community that have educational value for both themselves and their children. Hopefully, the experience of the tours will help parents better understand the community in which they live as well as places where families can visit during their leisure hours. A physical education specialist conducts a demonstration class for children three days a week in the HRC Perceptual Motor Laboratory. A variety of play activities are conducted to help promote the development of movement skills, social skills, and perceptual- motor skills. Parents accompany their children to school and participate in child study sessions, volunteer activities, or informal discussion groups while their 182 children are in the demonstration class. Parents par- ticipating in the Early Childhood Education Program become part of the Parent Advisory Committee. They advise on all aspects of the program and offer valuable suggestions related to the content of child study sessions, activity kits, experience tours, and other phases of the program. During the course of this initial year of the Early Childhood Education Program a process of evalu— ations took place which resulted in several adjustments as well as giving future directions to the program. At its peak, the ECEP actively involved ninety children from eighty-five families. Conclusions The review of the literature, evaluation of other existing preschool programs, and observations and evalu— ations as a participant observer in the Early Childhood Education Program at the Human Resources Center in Pontiac led this writer to come to the following conclusions: 1. The HRC Early Childhood Education Program is a success in that it has involved eighty—five families in the preschool education of their children. In addition, there have been forty— three parents who have come to the school to participate in one or more activities——this is 5. 183 61 per cent of the families. There has been a total of 749 parent-school contacts this year. Of these 43 parents who have come to the school, 65 per cent have made 3 or more contacts. The education of the child is the joint responsi- bility of the home, the school, and the community. Careful planning and adequate time for such planning are key factors to success of a pre- school program. The most success comes from working directly with parents and indirectly with children. A good and continuing in-service program is essential for the adults who will be working with either the preschool children or the parents. The most glaring shortcoming of the HRC Early Childhood Education Program is the lack of time the teacher assistants have to spend with the program and particularly on parent visits. Until the presence of empirical research shows otherwise, it is concluded that the participant parents are very pleased with the Early Childhood Education Program. 10. 11. 12. 184 Some children lack in their homes and culture the quality and variety of experiences which equip them with the kinds of skills and relation- ships required for preparation for participation in the society. Therefore, it is the responsi- bility of the society to make provisions for these children to receive the kinds of exper— iences which will develop these skills and relationships. The school, as an agent of society, should make provisions for programs which will give the child the kinds of experiences necessary for the formation of efficient learning patterns and relationships, when the home and the culture are unable or fail to provide them. A school which espouses the true community edu— cation philosophy should incorporate a preschool program within its structure. The home visit does not have to be with the mother. The fathers, or the person who normally cares for the child can be just as effective working with the child. The Parent—Child Activity Kit should not be a remedial activity for the child, but should be a pleasurable activity which the child will enjoy. 185 13. Most parents really want to work with their pre— school children but don‘t know what kinds of activities to do. 14. Most of the children involved in the program this year are from families that are interested in doing something extra for their preschool child. 15. The fact that there are two bilingual teacher assistants on the ECEP staff is an excellent situation and has resulted in the involvement of many Latino parents who ordinarily would not have participated in the program. 16. Feedback from the parents, especially concerning the Parent-Child Activity Kits, is a very important concept and should not be overlooked. 17. The home visitors should be from the same neigh- borhood or same ethnic background as the parents visited to be most effective. Recommendations Based on the findings in this study and infor— mation gathered as a participant observer in the Human Resources Center Early Childhood Education Program, the writer recommends that: 186 An attempt should be made to determine the feasibility of using just one teacher assistant for each family home visit, thus potentially doubling the case load. Some attempt should be made to individualize the Parent—Child Activity Kits. Many of the activi- ties in the present kits were either too difficult or too easy for a lot of the children. A school social worker, or a person with this type of expertise, should be added to the staff of the ECEP. An attempt should be made to involve the "hard— to—reach" parents in the HRC area. These are the parents who never have contact with the school, and perhaps even see the school as an adversary. Research is needed to determine what effects the program has had on the children involved. A study should be done to determine if the chil~ dren enrolled in the ECEP actually perform better in kindergarten than those students not enrolled. Research is needed to develop ways of identifying the specific needs of each preschool child. Needs vary from child to child, and no one program will fit all the needs of all the children. 10. 11. 12. 187 Research is needed to determine the effects of parental participation. There is a need to discover the effects of this program on the home-school relationships and how this program alters the views and attitudes of the parents about the HRC. Research is needed to determine what effects the ECEP has on the attitudes of the school personnel toward the children and parents of the HRC com- munity. There is a need to try to determine how to cor- relate this preschool program with the K-6 pro~ gram functioning in the HRC, and how to keep the parents who are active participants continually involved in HRC programs. A study needs to be done to determine the type of teacher needed to work with preschool children and also culturally disadvantaged and minority children. Research is needed to determine the methods and programs needed to bring about fuller partici- pation on the part of the parents of culturally disadvantaged children. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 188 More parents should be involved in the decision- making process, especially concerning the activity kits, parent meetings, parent field trips, and other parent activities. Some way must be devised to allow the home visitors more time for planning and making home visits, and at the same time increasing the present caseload. A study should be undertaken to determine how many of the parents involved in the ECEP have enrolled in adult education courses or other kinds of school—related activities. Efforts need to be made to develOp an effective in—service model for instructing both parents and home visitors on better utilization of desirable teaching behaviors. Efforts need to be made to develop an objective reference test for these four— and five—year-old children to determine growth in education, social, and perceptual-motor areas. Efforts need to be made to develop some procedure for identifying children who might have handi— capping physical or mental defects. 189 Concluding Statement It was the sincere wish of the writer, and such was his purpose, that this study might provide some material which would be useful to educators as they begin to develop and implement a preschool program in their schools or school systems. If ideas and questions are generated the study's purpose has been fulfilled. SELECTED BI BL IOG RAP HY SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Akers, Milton E. "Prologue: The Why of Early Childhood Education." Early Childhood Education. The Seventy—First Yearbook of the NationaISociety for the Study of Education, Part II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972. Auleta, Michael S. 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An Educational History of the Western WOrld. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1965. Moore, Vardine. Ere-School Story Hour. New York and London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1966. Piaget, Jean. The Origins of Intelligence in Children. Translated by Margaret Cook. New York: Inter- national Universities Press, Inc., 1952. Pines, Maya. Revolution in Learning. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1966. Pitcher, Evelyn Goodenough; Lasher, Miriam G.; Feinburg, Sylvia G.; and Hammond, Nancy C. Helpinnggung Children Learn. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, 1966. Riessman, Frank. The Culturally Dgprived Child. New York: Harper and Row, 1962. Robison, Helen F., and Spodek, Bernard. New Directions in the Kindergarten. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1965. Schaefer, Earl 8. "Need for Early and Continuing Edu- cation." Education of the Infant and Young Child. Edited by Victor H. Denenberg. New York: Academic Press, Inc., 1970. Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for writers of Term Papers, Theses and DiSsertations. 3rd ed. Revised. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967. l 1 .\ 194 Weikart, David P., and Lambie, Dolores F. l'Preschool Intervention Through a Home Teaching Program." Disadvantaged Child. Head Start and Early Intervention. Vol. II. Edited by Jerome Hellmuth. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1968. ; Rogers, Linda; Adcock, Carolyn; and McClelland, 'Donna. The Cognitively Oriented Curriculum. washington, D.C.: Publications Department, National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1971. Widmer, Emmy Louise. The Critical Years: Early Child- hood Education at the Crossroads. Scranton, Penn.: International Textbook Company, 1970. wunderlich, Ray C. Kids, Brains and Learning. St. Petersburg, Florida: Johnny Reads, Inc., 1970. Periodicals Brunner, Catherine. "Project Help." The Education Digest, XXIV (March, 1964), 25. Campbell, Clyde M. "The Cottage Nursery." The Community School and Its Administration, VII (July, 1969), l-4. Cass, James. "The Crucial Years Before Six." Saturday Review, June 15, 1968, p. 59. Cutts, Warren G. "Reading Unreadiness in the Under- privileged." NEA Journal, LII (April, 1963), 23-24. Della-Dora, Delmo. "The Culturally Disadvantaged: Further Observations." Exceptional Children, XXIX (January, 1963), 226-36. Deutsch, Martin. "Nursery Education: The Influence of Social Programming on Early Development." The Journal of Nursery Education (April, 1963), 192-97. Educational Policies Commission of the NEA. "Universal Opportunity for Early Childhood Education." NEA Journal, LV (November, 1966), 8-10. Edwards, Esther P. "Kindergartens Are Too Late." Saturday Review, June 15, 1968, pp. 68-70, 76-79. 195 Freeburg, Norma E., and Payne, Donald T. "Parental Influence on Cognitive Development in Early Childhood: A Review." Child Development, XXXVIII (March, 1967), 65-87. Hansen, Harlan, and Hansen, Ruth. "ECE Purpose and Key- stones." Instructor, LXXXII (August/September, 1972), 70-71. Hartup, Willard W. "Early Pressures in Child Development." Young Children, XX (May, 1965), 270-83. Hattwick, Berta W. "The Influence of Nursery School Attendance Upon the Behavior and Personality of the Preschool Child." Journal of Experi- mental Education, V (1936), 180-90. Hilton, Ernest. "Early Childhood Education: A Sense of Urgency." Instructor, LXXXII (August/September, 1972), 15. Hosley, Eleanor. "Culturally Deprived Children in Day— Care Programs." Children, X (September-October, 1963), 176. Hunt, J. McVicker. "How Children DevelOp Intellectually." Children, XI (May—June, 1964), 87. . "The Psychological Basis for Pre—School Enrichment." Merrill Palmer Quarterly, X (July, 1964), 209-48. Hymes, James L., Jr. "Emerging Patterns in Early Child— hood Education." Young Children, XXII (January, 1967), 158-63. "Schools for the Culturally Deprived." Grade Teacher, LXXXI (May, 1964), 24—25, 107-08. Joel, Walther. "The Influence of Nursery School Edu- cation Upon Behavior Maturity." Journal of Experimental Education, VIII (1939), 164—65. Lewis, Elizabeth. "The Real California Report: A New Approach to Education." Phi Delta Kappan, LIV, No. 8 (April, 1973), 558-59. Martin, W. E. "Rediscovering the Mind of the Child: A Significant Trend in Research in Child Develop~ ment." Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, VI (1960), 67—760 7 \ 196 Moore, Raymond S. "Further Comments on the California Report." Phi Delta Kappan, LIV, No. 8 (April, 1973), 560—61. ; Moon, Robert D.; and Moore, Dennis R. "The California Report: Early Schooling For All?" Phi Delta Kappan, LIII, No. 10 (June, 1972), 615-21. Olson, Willard C. "The Case Method." Review of Edu- cational Research, IX (December, 1939), 486-87. Prescott, Daniel A. "The Role of Love in Preschool Edu- cation." Childhood Education, XXXVIII (February, 1962), 267-75. Shane, Harold G. "The Renaissance of Early Childhood Education." Phi Delta Kappan, L (March, 1969), Spodek, Bernard. "Sources of Early—Childhood Curriculum." Young Children, XXVI (October, 1970), 45-58. Vann, Albert. "Battle to Control Black Schools." Ebony, XXIV (May, 1969), 44. Walsh, Mary Elizabeth. "The Relations of Nursery School Training to the Development of Certain Personality Traits." Child Development, II (January—March, 1931), 72-79. White, Burton L. "When Should Schooling Begin?" Phi Delta Kappan, LIII, No. 10 (June, 1972), 610-12. Willmon, Betty Jean. "Parent Participation as a Factor in the Effectiveness of Head Start Programs." The Journal of Educational Research, LXII (May— June, 1969), 406-10. Unpublished Materiale Condon, William J. "The Process of Planning and Seeking Support for a Human Resources Center for the City of Pontiac." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1970. Forrester, Bettye J., Hardge, Beulah M., et a1. "Home Visiting with Mothers and Infants." Demon- stration and Research Center for Early Education, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1971. 197 Gordon, Ira J. "The Florida Parent Education Program." Institute for Development of Human Resources, College of Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, August, 1972. McCarthy, Janet Lee G. "Changing Parent Attitudes and Improving Language and Intellectual Abilities of Culturally Disadvantaged Four-Year—Old Children Through Parent Involvement." Unpub— lished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Indiana, 1968. Williams, Everett Joseph. "A Case Study of a Response to an Urban Crisis: The Pontiac Human Resources Center." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1972. Newspapers Flint Journal. "Preschool Industry Expands." November 23, 1972. APPENDICES . ‘_‘ _ _ . - . . - , -..._._____._ , 5 _—, _ - I... . . . .‘1 - - -'—"""- .“' - _-— “ -\-—~.3._-_‘1 _ ___'l—- -4: ‘ - -~. --—_.‘-§-'.-. .a—l.'_;.'__L..-___ "' 5m APPENDIX A PARENT-CHILD ACTIVITY KITS APPENDIX A HUMAN RESOURCES CENTER Early Childhood Education Program "HOLIDAY FUN FOR EVERYONE" TO THE HOME VISITOR: Stress fun and involvement. Parents should look at the beauty of a project through the eyes of the young child. If the child likes what he has done and is pleased then the parents should also show their pleasure. Parents should not re-do the child's work. Parents should praise the child's be- havior - not the child. For example, say "That is a very nice reindeer" instead of "You are such a good boy." Do not let the child believe he or she is good or bad depending on what he does. Correct or praise his or her behavior - do not label the child. Parent-Child Activity Kit #1 exposes the child to the following: Colors: red, brown, black, white Vocabulary: reindeer, nose, little, stOcking, sheet, fur, trim, mittens, boots, belt, buckle, sleeve, mustache, beard, town Language Development: Ask questions requiring answers from the child - naming objects - songs, poems Concepts of Space: up, down, t0p Eye-Hand Coordination Skills: cutting, pasting, coloring Creative and Dramatic Activities: poetry, songs, puppetry, dra- matic play Body Image: arm, foot, head, eyes, fingers, hands, leg - manipu- late puppet, identify parent's body parts - relate actions to words - draw-a-person Motor Activities: mimetics of'throwing and catching a ball, reach high with hands, squat down, jumping up and down Orderliness: putting materials in a Special place after each session Feelings: feeling, sad, happy, naughty, nice 198 199 HODDM FuN FoK EVERYONE PARENT-CHILD ACTIVITY KIT Vglugg 1, Number 1 Ponti c E r1 Childhood Educ i'n P December 1972 A. H 0 M E T H A T S M I L E S I The daily activities listed on the following pages suggest ways that parents can encourage enjoyable and meaningful play on the part of their child using inexpensive materials. Play has meaning and purpose in the physical, emotional and mental life of the child and is the growing child's way of learning. Toys, materials and equipment are learning tools. At home the parent should understand the need of young children to experience play in their own unique and creative ways. However, parents can guide the play experiences of children by: l. knowing some of the benefits they can get from different toys and equipment. 2. showing interest in their play, helping them get started in play acti- vities, knowing when they want to play alone and when they need someone to play with. 3. providing opportunities throughout the day for the child to participate in different play experiences including active play (indoors and outdoors), quiet play, creative and make-believe play. 4. showing a genuine interest in your child's play by asking questions, re- peating words, talking about things that are happening in and around the home. Children need many different experiences repeated over and over. During the pre-school years children have the time at home to develop through their play experiences. There is time. Relax and enjoy contributing to your child's play. Stress fun through play and learning through fun! {"0 GP ""‘——.. 200 IET'S WORK TOGETHER Today the parent and child are going to make a Santa Claus puppet together. When working with a three and four year old, it's important to work with concrete objects the child can handle. It makes their lessons more easily understood when they can see and hold some- thing that shows what you are teaching them. Before you start, gather up the things you will need to make the puppet and have them in front of you.‘ Once a three or four year old starts a project, they want to see it finished right away. Plan to do this activity when you have have thirty minutes to yourselves. Both of you will have fun and a good lesson if you plan a quiet time to do it and have all of your materials handy. For the puppet you will need: Activity sheets 1 and 2 Red and black crayons 5 paper fasteners Pair of scissors Read all the directions for this lesson first. That way you will know what to teach as you do the project and how the puppet is put together. The parent and child should color Santa's pieces with the red and black crayons. His suit is red with white fur trim.‘ His boots, mittens and belt are black. The child should do most of the coloring. The parent may help color small pieces or fill in gaps here and there for the experience and the other skills are what we are more concerned with now. Direct your child to color one piece at a time, finish it, and then do another piece. By doing this you give your three or four year old direction on how to do an activity and you can better teach the concepts in this lesson. Staying between the lines is not im- portant at this time for a three or four year old. Doing the project in this lesson you are going to: teach the colors red, white and black, discuss the words: fur trim, mittens, boots, belt, buckle, sleeve, mustache, beard, Santa's cap and jacket. When coloring the pieces of the puppet, hand the crayon to your child and tell them what color it is and what you are going to color with it. For example: "This is a black crayon. We are going to use this black crayon to color Santa's boots black." You will also want to point out that Santa's fur trim, mustache and beard are white. Since our paper is white, we are not going to color those pieces because they already are white. Color the puppet, cut his pieces out, and put him together. The circles on the puppet show you where to put the paper fasteners in order to hook him together. Once you get Santa finished you will want to review what we taught. Play a game with the child. "Point to the black mitten." "Point to the white fur trim on the cap." "Point to the red 1cg.", etc. Once you play the game that way, switch to asking questions. "What color is Santa's beard?” ”What color is Santa's sleeve?", etc. Now that the lesson is finished have your child put the materials away. Find a drawer, box or special place where your child can keep his/her things. A spot that is their private place for their things. By doing this, you will develOp the habit of putting things away. You will also make the child feel important if he/she has a special place all their own. You will also have the puppet ready for tomorrow's lesson. 201 W Have your child get Santa out of his/her special place so you can work with him. Today you are going to work on parts of 6,the body. For this lesson you will need: g "puppet, paper and crayons, mirror. It's 1”,. important for a three and four year old to know the parts of their body and how a person is hooked together. The more the child understands about himself, the better able he is to Operate. If the child knows the parts of his body and where they are, we can then teach him how to use them to his best advantage. At the same time we are developing his concept of himself as a person - which is very important. Using the San a puppet, point out the parts of the body and features. "This is an arm." "This is a nose." "This is an eyebrow.", etc. Then ask the child, "Where is Santa's foot, where is Santa's beard, where is Santa‘s head?", etc. Once the child can find the body parts on the puppet it's important to find them on himself. "Show me your eyes." "Show me your tummy." "Show me your fingers.", etc. Now transfer the task of finding body parts on the parent. "Where is my leg?" "Where are my hands?" "Where is my neck?", etc. If you have a mirror in your house, it would also be fun to stand in front of a mirror and do this exercise. The next step in this lesson would be to discuss what the parts of.the body are used for. "I see with my ." ”I walk with my ." "I pick things up with my .", etc. Now that you have worked on the body, take a crayon and a piece of paper and draw a person with your child. It can be a stick figure. Then let your child draw one by' himself. If necessary, remind them how things are hooked together. When finished, have them put away their materials. Have them hang Santa in a place of their choice. OH YOU'D BETTER WATCH OUT! Singing songs are part of growing up and can be instructional too. Children can learn a lot from a song. Besides learn- ing how to carry a tune, they learn the ’ 5" meaning of words and the feelings of ‘\t people. Today's lesson will be about "Santa Claus coming to Town". It's an old time favorite that most folks know. The words are printed on the following page. The lesson you are working on. today will be vocabulary words and peoples'feelings. The vocabulary words are: pout, town, watch, list, naughty and nice. Sin: the song all the way through for the child so they can hear the whole story that it tells. Talk with your child about what the song says. 202 Discuss the vocabulary words. For example, "What is a town?" "What town have we visited er lived in that we know?" "What do towns have in them?" (streets, buildings, gas stations, etc.) Everybody has feelings and your three and four year old has special feelings that you cope with every day. Children need to know that there are times when anybody can be sad and pout, everybody has happy moments, everybody has had moments when they cry - all people have feelings they have to let out. You should openly discuss feeling with your child. "When have you felt sad and cried?” "When have you felt happy?" "What was it that made you happy?", etc. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN Oh, you'd better watch out! He knows when you are sleeping. You'd better not cry! He knows if you've been good You'd better not pout! or bad. I'm telling you why -- So be good for goodness sake. Santa Claus is coming to town. He's making a list. Oh, you'd better watch out Checking it twice. You'd better not cry! Going to find out, You'd better not pout! Who's naughty or nice. I'm telling you why -- Santa Claus is coming to town. Santa Claus is coming to town. DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO? Poems, like songs, are fun and provide ideas for activities to do. For today's lesson you will need a pencil and piece of paper. Read the poem through once. Talk about the story it tells. Read it again. It may be fun to-ect out the poem together. The child can pretend he is a little child squeezed up tight and jump out calling ”Boo!" The parent can be Santa Claus. Then you can switch places and the parent can be the child. Kids enjoy seeing their parents in another role and knowing that, you too, were once a child. Help your child write a letter to Santa. SANTA CLAUS Do you know what I would like to do when Santa comes knocking? I'd like to squeeze up real tight and hide behind my stocking. And when he opens the door, I'd just'jump out and say ”Boo!" just for fun And if he got scared enough he might drop his pack and run. 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Rb! who wouldn't go H0! ”at xho wouldn't go wn 'se top click, click, click 1 thrccgh the chimney with good St. Nick if .3 am the stocking of little Will 051 .see what a glorious fill . hi1n a hammer and lots of tacks (7 ha?) and a whip that cracks é a! who wouldn't go o! 0J0 wouldn‘t go . house top click, click, click C~@% :he chimney with good St. Nick ACTION Children reach high with hands. Jump up and down on both feet Squat down, pretend to hold Santa's bag With hands, show how tall little children would be. Smile for joy. Deep hardy "Ho's” - extend hands in expression of question Reach up with hands - snap fingers Squat down, with pack on back Hold hands like you have stocking Pretend you are filling it with toys Smile when you say laugh - look sad for cries Child opens and closes eyes Deep hardy "Ho's” - extend hands in expression of question Reach up with hands - snap fingers Squat down, with pack on back Hold hand like holding stocking Show facial expression of happiness Pretend to be pounding with hammer Pretend to catch ball, pretend to snap whip Deep hardy ”Ho's” - extend hands in expression of question Reach up with hands - snap fingers Squat down, with pack on back 8 0 2 .000550 0500 %0500 0 0x05 00 5300 050 050 5505 50%050 50 550505 0 :053 .00005 50 0500 :053 050 0:0 500005 .505500 005 0:0 050300 0:50 55:0 0 0055 50505 0:0 5505 050 505500 005:3 0:0 0555 .5300 0050 005 0:0 00055 .00050 :0551550: 0:0 55 50500 055:0 550% 030: .50%050 005 0 w550b .0050 050 5300 050 50505 0:0 50 500 0:0 000500 :055 550:1050 0555 005 0 3055 .0:50 0 0055 50505 5505 05 3o: 055:0 550% w55:0000 050 005:3 050 005 050500 0:0 w55305>05 0: 5553 50% 500005 05:0 505 .00005 50 0500 0500 .50%050 005 0 .50505 005:3 55055 0500 “0005 5553 50% %05>5000 05:0 505 .0050: 550% 055050 50 0050 0050055:o 0 5o m50: 00 555 050 00 00 %000 05 %05>5000 055850 05:H .0050: 0:0 m550050000 505 555 05 500000 %00550: 0:9 wmz0: .05o%050 55550500 w550: .505050305 050 050 .00005 .05o%050 0005 5553 50% .50000m %005505 0:0 505 w55550: 0: 500 %03 050 5555005 000w 0 5050>00 00 .%0535000 05:0 505 050: 550% 00050000 .00350050:0 050:0 0005 055005 055055 .0005m 5005 %00:%50 00:05 00:0 050 050050555 50:0 00:05 00:9 .000 00 050%5030 505 55 50:0 m50: 050 0055:0 0x05 00 0>05 505055:o S550 0555 < 5552 on 0.5 500 5555 :053 3 5 . .0E0m 0:0 50 505553 0:0 05 0505 :0502 — Mfifim .5055550 0:0 50 530:0 00 50500 0500 0:0 00: 00:0 0:0 00 00305 50%055 0:9 .9509m 50 050x505 550% 00055 550% 050 50% 00 0500: 050w 0:0 50500 0:0 50 050500 0:0 00005 0550 0:0 055000 050 055 0:0 55 .0555 0.; 0 0050 0505 .5055550 0:0 55539 .055000 055:0 .5055550 .50500005 50505 0:0 050: 05).;42 50; 0,00“ y 0, .7Pr r: .050%050 .0500:0500 50 050 0005 30550 050 .50500005 50505 050 .055 0500055 “050550005 w55305505 0:0 0005 5553 50% m 050w 05:0 505 .mMMUH>HuUd WC uwm WHSU CH 50 000503 030: 0? 050500 0:0 50 m55x5o3 05 0500 550 .%00 %50 %055 00 555 050 00500 55.5 05 520 < 52.5 0.50.5 210 PARENT-CHILD ACTIVITY KIT Volume I. Number 6. Early Childhood Education Program - May 1973 ALL ABOUT ME The purpose of this unit is to develop and improve the self concept of your pre-school child. For this unit, we are changing our format and presenting the activities in a book ALL ABOUT ME. The activities are geared for three and four year olds to work on them as they wish during the next two weeks. Pick a quiet moment when your child appears interested in working. Adjust your work time to the in- terest of your child. Some children do well with several short lessons; other children can work for long periods of time. We are asking that all children do the pages with a star in the right hand corner --- the other pages are their choice. The wise owl is a reward for each child to work toward. Hang the owl in a special place. When your child can say his/her first and last name, put a star by "name". They also get a star when they can say their age and address. Each childs goal is to earn three stars and be as wise as an owl! Below are the objectives you are teaching in this unit: 1. Child can tell their first and last name. 2. Child can tell their age. 3. Child can tell their address. 4. Child can identify parts of the body. 5. Child can draw a complete person: head, facial features, body, arms, hands, legs, feet. 211 flume 1. Number 6. Early Childhood Education Program May 1973 24:41:... If». 3‘ , (I. com/4.1., 154', 5 I 212 - ~ '-- " e masrg, ‘r 5"- ~ ‘ . - WWWJW5 “m. ‘ .\ a . .. ‘. ?". ‘5 -‘. _ A ‘ ~ \ ' -_ " , 3‘97 I. I." ‘ . ‘0'. - . ., A . 3 ‘ .2 ‘ ‘ .' J I Va. 0' , ,_,.~‘ .3" . . ‘0 I ‘J' A .w .2 :5. ’33. $5030"... a..- .9. v L...» _ . I! '~ r3?!» . .. ' a , ‘ u.‘ ‘ X s ,-‘.‘:W . \0 mam-1- .f: Mother, fill in the information. Work on each item * with your child at your leisure. . 5 _-‘__:_E_. . .,_':-‘l""" ..... .4. What is ~‘ What is My name That is How old How old I am That is my name? my name? is my name. L am I ? am I ? years old. my age. Where do I live? Where do I live? I live at That's where I Sing Tune to “Farmer In The Dell“ live. 214 CUT THESE SIX PICTURES OUT AND HELP YOUR CHILD PAST THEM IN THE CORRECT BOX @» l l Y T Z.» ‘ .55 305x 5 5.544 - \\. ’— mmumoo< IIIIIII . . 02 \\ wt